Six years only after its opening, the French company Renault is preparing to close its factory near Oran in Algeria. The reason is a mild euphemism, the repercussions of the Ukrainian conflict and above all the weakness of local production.
Indeed, the Renault manufacturer, which has definitively stopped its production in Russia, and which is faced with numerous problems within its factory in Algeria, is seriously considering clearing the floor of its industrial site in Oran (“screwdriver factory” ), which assembles the Dacia Logan 2, Dacia Sandero 2 and Renault Clio 4 models, and above all which has been idling for two years, not to say that it has stopped.
According to a statement from the French company operating in Algeria, “only 754 vehicles were assembled in 2020 at the Oran plant, which has been closed for more than a year due to the health crisis and political instability“. The Oran plant gradually resumed activity in May 2021, and assembled a total of 5,208 cars (1,148 Logan, 2,808 Sandero and 1,252 Clio) last year, 12 times less than in 2019. Renault has further hinted that it was considering closing this plant, adding that production and manufacturing for the local market is very low and not meeting expectations despite that ” Algeria is an important market for Renault“. The French group sold only 5,109 cars there in 2021, which represents a market share of 20.6%.
Also, the manufacturer is considering a conversion of its Oran plant, which can no longer reach the target production level of 75,000 vehicles per year and whose forecasts for the period 2022-2030 remain highly uncertain. All good for Tanger-Med. The manufacturer of the diamond brand indicated that during the past financial year, it had moved the production of Dacia Logan from this plant to the Tangier plant in Morocco.
” L he production of Dacia Logan was transferred in 2021 from the Oran plant to the Tangier-Med plant in Morocco with a marked increase in production and the most convincing (350,000 units)“.
In its latest monthly analysis, the company Inovev, which specializes in the automotive industry and which has speculated that Renault could sell its Algerian plant, located near Oran, indicates that the Oran plant “does not at all meet the objectives set by the manufacturer since it no longer manages to come close to the target production level of 75,000 vehicles per year, on the basis of a response to local demand which had suffered era of the cessation of automobile imports ».
The firm, which relies on the history of other manufacturers, reports that “Renault’s difficulties in Algeria stem from the assembly of cars with too low an integration rate, qualified by the Algerian government as disguised imports. The “screwdriver” factories of several manufacturers established in Algeria have been successively closed. Renault, which has always favored its Tangier site in Morocco, may have misunderstood the attitude of the Algerian government regarding its “screwdriver” factory in Oran..
And to conclude that the site of Oran is such that its durability arises more than ever.“The subject of Algeria is not new for Renault, but the interest in keeping this plant arises in a context where the manufacturer is seeking to refinance itself”, we raise within the cabinet. Contacted by the magazine Argus, the manufacturer invalidates the hypothesis put forward by Inovev, but not without deploringthe situation which “has been going on for some time” noting that indeed the volumes assembled are still very low, but in no case have we announced that we will leave Algeria, which remains an “important” market for Renault”. The French group continues to discuss with the Algerian government to remedy this situation. Without local production, the diamond brand would therefore have difficulty maintaining its position in the country.
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