It’s an open secret, after Renault, Dacia and Peugeot, the German brand Opel will produce in Morocco and more particularly at the PSA plant in Kénitra its little electric gem, the Rocks-e.
Indeed, the Stellantis Group (PSA and Fiat Chrysler merger) which operates and markets fourteen automobile brands including five from the PSA Group (Citroën, DS Automobiles, Opel, Peugeot and Vauxhall), is the fourth in the global automobile market after Volkswagen Group. , Toyota Group and Renault-Nissan Alliance, decided to market from Kénitra, the Rocks-e, a copy of Citroën’s ultra-electric city car.
It is a good niche since in Europe, orders will be possible in Germany from next fall and on other markets of the Old Continent during 2022. Like its little sister, the Citroën, the Opel Rocks-e should therefore, to be produced in Morocco in the PSA plant in Kénitra where the Peugeot 208 as well as the Ami EV microcar (the first fully electric passenger car to be manufactured in North Africa) are already produced. Citroën and Opel target a young audience. The Rocks-e has all the characteristics, since it is accessible to users from 15 years old in addition to a very competitive price ($ 7,000). By way of comparison, the Citroën AMI costs between 6,000 and 7,360 euros.
However, Opel’s electric car (EV) manufacturing in Kenitra overtakes China’s plan to build EVs in Egypt. The Moroccan automobile industry comes out with an important advantage since it is a pioneer in the matter. This decision also represents a strategic gain for European automobile manufacturing compared to China. As a gateway to West Africa, Morocco provides Opel and its parent company Stellantis with a nearby production base for the possible profitable export of electric vehicles to growing markets in Africa. sub-Saharan. It is therefore a pledge for the Kingdom regarding the construction of EVs.
But this is not a surprise in itself, Morocco has already secured its place as a new skill and destination in the EV market with in particular the American company based in Casablanca- Bouskoura, STMicroelectronics. The latter, which has just launched, manufactures the main transmitter for Tesla vehicles. The Kingdom is given the fact and the agreement (making “sourcing”), with the parent company in the United States, Tesla Motors, a stakeholder status in the manufacture of the famous automobile brand Tesla of billionaire Elon Musk. Sure that Morocco is seriously positioning itself on the emerging market for electric cars on a global scale, in any case it is the undisputed leader on the continent.
With a production capacity of more than 700,000 vehicles per year, the Moroccan automotive industry is the undisputed king of the manufacture of vehicles of all categories in North Africa. However, before Opel, Egypt positioned itself to become the leading producer of electric cars in North Africa and thus emerge as the next automotive manufacturing center in the region. Indeed, Chinese automaker Dongfeng signed a framework agreement in January 2021 with a moribund Egyptian state company El Nasr for joint production of EVs in Egypt, at a cost of $ 18,600 per EV.
.