The Moroccan Automobile Construction Company (SOMACA) celebrated, on Wednesday in Casablanca, the production of its 1 millionth vehicle since 2005, the year in which the Renault Group took control of the plant, and unveiled the new visual identity of the Dacia brand. .
During this ceremony, which took place in the presence of the Minister of Industry and Trade, Ryad Mezzour, the guests visited the various workshops of this emblematic factory before attending the exit from the assembly lines of a Dacia Logan bearing the serial number 1,000,000 and equipped with the new visual identity, intended for the Moroccan market.
At the same time, the Dacia range with the new emblem deployed simultaneously on all the brand’s production sites around the world – the Dacia Link – was presented to the audience, and whose first vehicles, manufactured at the SOMACA and equipped with the new visual identity, will arrive in the Dacia network in Morocco from December 2022, in particular Dacia Logan, Sandero Streetway and Sandero Stepway. Thus, Dacia opens a new chapter in its history with the adoption of this new brand identity involving a new logo for its entire range, new dealerships, a new design, and new colors. Beyond the design changes, this development also carries commitments for the future, while capitalizing on the strong values that have made Dacia so successful.
Amounting to more than 73,000 vehicles in 2021, exports from Morocco are intended, first and foremost, for the French, Spanish and Italian markets, which are the top importing countries for models produced at SOMACA, which, in addition to meeting local demand, exports more than 75% of its global production volume. Since the arrival of Renault Group at SOMACA, the pioneering factory in the automotive industry in Morocco has entered a new era of transformation. With an annual production capacity of 100,000 vehicles, the Renault Group plant in Casablanca has a 5,000 m2 logistics platform, a sheet metal department with 20% robotization and fully modernized painting and assembly departments.
At the same time, SOMACA continues its dynamic of continuous improvement with the deployment of industry 4.0 and the implementation of several training programs addressed to its employees in order to put them in tune with this highly technological transformation.
In this regard, the CEO of Renault Group Morocco, Mohamed Bachiri, highlighted the investment efforts made by the Group since the acquisition of SOMACA in 2005, particularly in human capital and in the industrial tool 4.0, noting that these new technologies have enabled the plant to increase productivity, and provided new jobs for operators in terms of upkeep, maintenance, programming and automatons.
In addition, Mr. Bachiri recalled the agreements concluded with the supervisory ministry for the creation of two ecosystems around the automotive industry, one in 2016 and the other in 2021, with the aim of raising the rate of local integration which reached 64% last year, which represents the rise in power and range of the national automotive sector. After noting that Renault Morocco’s target objective is to bring the integration rate to 80% in the long term, Mr. Bachiri, specified that the Group is working to promote and consolidate its environment of direct suppliers, like those of “rank 1” whose number has increased from 16 in 2016 to reach 76 in 2021, which now has more than 12,000 employees. Speaking at the same time, Mr. Mezzour welcomed the production of one million vehicles at the Renault group’s Casablanca plant, noting that the same number of vehicles manufactured for 57 years – since the opening of SOMACA in 1959 until 2016 – i.e. 500,000 is equivalent to the workforce produced between 2016 and 2022.
“In 6 years, SOMACA has achieved the feat of achieving, in terms of production capacity, the same result as that obtained in 57 years of work (…) it is Morocco today, it resolutely testifies to the great technological development of our country which currently manages to produce the best-selling vehicle in Europe”, he rejoiced, noting that at this rate, SOMACA should, at the end of the next 4 years, celebrate its second million vehicles produced.
The Minister also highlighted the efforts made by the human capital of SOMACA, proud of their belonging to this jewel of Moroccan industry and who have been operating there, for some, from father to son for three generations, welcoming their commitment and the exceptional mode of collaboration between the various stakeholders and social actors. This ceremony, which was attended by the Wali of the Casablanca-Settat region, Saïd Ahmidouch, the Dacia industrial director, Christophe Dridi, and the managing director of the Tangier and SOMACA factories, Miguel Oliver-Boquera, alongside all the players in the Renault ecosystem in Morocco, was rewarded with a car raffle for the benefit of plant operators.
Established in Morocco since 1928, Renault Group produces two brands, Renault and Dacia, which represent four vehicles out of ten of the total workforce sold on the national territory. The Renault plant in Casablanca (SOMACA) has been manufacturing Renault brand models since 1966 and models from the Dacia range since 2005. The Group’s history in Morocco experienced a new impetus in 2012 with the inauguration of the Renault-Tangier factory, the largest automobile factory in Africa. By exporting the majority of their production, the Moroccan factories of the Renault Group are one of the pillars of its international development.