Many of you have never heard of Neo Motors. It is the first Moroccan car manufacturer, founded in 2018, which unveiled a prototype SUV in May of this year. Sales of this car will begin soon, and the company also talked about future plans, which include entering the main stock market and producing electric cars.

Neo currently has a capacity of 3,000 vehicles per year, and the plan is to increase it to 15,000 vehicles. “The Moroccan carmaker wants to increase production to 15,000 vehicles a year and within three years wants to introduce electric models. Neo is in talks with the African Development Bank about further financing opportunities,” said CEO Nassim Belkhayat in an interview with Bloomberg.

The Kingdom of Morocco has a population of 37.08 million and less than 5 million registered cars, with annual sales of less than 200k cars. The Kingdom’s plan is to become a production and trade center for both the West and China.

Peugeot, Renault and Dacia vehicles are already assembled in Morocco, and the authorities are now focusing on adding value by making key components locally. “We wanted to make a car for the masses, just like Volkswagen did a century ago. We made our own body, our own chassis and wiring system, and we source the rest from 43 local suppliers,” said Belkhayat.

Neo has so far invested 50 million dirhams ($4.9 million) in the factory in Ain Aouda, thanks to loans obtained from Moroccan banks, after a meeting of company representatives with King Mohammed VI.

The Kingdom of Morocco is Africa’s largest exporter of new cars, and Neo’s plans appear to be another step forward for the Moroccan automotive industry.

Source: Bloomberg

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