The very first cars introduced by the French started circulating in Morocco during the first year of the French protectorate back in 1912.
The number of imported vehicles steadily increased in 1920. The number doubled after some of the largest French automakers like Renault, Citroen and Peugeot opened their first sales branches in Morocco.
Morocco was among the very first African countries to invest in car manufacturing. Established in 1959 with technical assistance from FIAT and its French subsidiary SIMCA, Somaca, a Moroccan car manufacturer, was the local pioneer in the automotive industry.
The Somaca project covered a 290,040 square meter space in Casablanca’s Ain Sebaa. The car plant, which covered a space of 90,000 square meters, was expected to produce approximately 30,000 cars per year.
By 1962, an agreement between Somaca and Renault led to the launch of the first brand new cars that went into production, namely FIAT, Simca, Renault 4, and Renault 16.
Car production grew to major proportions by 1968, reaching over 10,000 units. Afterward, Morocco enacted a new law requiring that 40 percent of the cars must be assembled in Morocco.
Thanks to the new assembly law, in 1975, the Renault 4 car made a breakthrough in the automotive industry. Over 25,216 cars were produced. This also opened the door to the new Renault 30 which was assembled in Casablanca’s Somaca plant.
However, Renault production dropped to 16,000 cars a year due to the withdrawal of Somaca cars for the benefit of new brands like Talbot and Peugeot.
Fiat Uno: The economical car
To compensate for the decrease in Somaca’s production, which dropped to only 8,482 units in 1995, the Moroccan government signed a new agreement with the Fiat Group which led to the manufacturing of the “economical car.” This initiative aimed to enable Moroccans to possess low-cost locally manufactured new cars instead of purchasing second-hand imported vehicles. The agreement also purported to boost the national automotive industry.
The launch of the first locally assembled Fiat Uno made the dream come true. Fiat Palio and Fiat Siena followed in 1997 to empower the Fiat brand in the Moroccan market. This helped the company’s production rise to over 20,000 cars a year between 2000 and 2001. One year later the Fiat production dropped to 8,912 cars.
After the Moroccan government failed to extend the agreement, the Fiat Group suspended its production in Morocco.
Somaca privatization:
Following an offer to open Somaca for private investment In December 2003, French Renault convinced the Moroccan government to give up 38 percent of its shares for €8.7 million. In 2004, Renault Kangoo, Berlingo, and Partner cars started being produced in the Somaca plant.
Logan cars:
Renault continued boosting its role in the car industry with the introduction of Logan cars, with the aim to manufacture 30,000 units a year. Fifty percent of production was exported to Europe and the Middle East. In a short time, Logan cars turned into the number one best-selling car in Morocco.
