Morocco Leads European Exodus of Car Manufacturing to Africa

The move is likely to solidify Morocco’s leadership in car manufacturing in Africa, after the country overtook South Africa in 2018 as the largest exporter of cars on the continent.

Rabat – European car manufacturers are moving production to Africa, with Morocco as the primary destination.

Morocco is leading a number of African countries that are attracting the attention of European car manufacturers interested in moving production away from eastern Europe. Despite Morocco having relatively low car sales, at 160,000 units a year, the burgeoning car manufacturing industry in the country is booming.

In fact, Morocco has more people employed in the car manufacturing industry than the number of cars sold domestically every year. Roughly 220,000 Moroccans work in the industry, which is only set to grow as the North African country is now venturing into producing electric vehicles (EV) as well.

A recent deal with Stellantis/Opel will see the automobile conglomerate start producing the “Opel Rocks-E” in Morocco, kickstarting the local EV industry. Meanwhile production is set to start for US company Tesla, and China’s BYD electric vehicles.

The move is likely to solidify Morocco’s leadership in car manufacturing in Africa, after the country overtook South Africa in 2018 as the largest exporter of cars on the continent.

In a recent report by Deutsche Welle, Joe Studwell of the Overseas Development Institute described Moroccan car manufacturing deals as “superfavorable” with Morocco situated “a very short ferry ride from Europe.”

Studwell said that Morocco is unlikely to lose its position as continental leader because of its strategic location and international outlook.