Morocco—the next country to make 1 million cars a year?

Morocco is home to major vehicle factories operated by Renault and Stellantis; Renault has two plants, one in Casablanca, dating from 1959, and a newer plant in Tangiers which opened in 2012. Stellantis has a factory in Kenitra which opened in 2019.  The new Renault and Stellantis plants are the result of the country’s strategic plan to develop an automotive manufacturing sector in the late 2000s The Tangiers and Kenitra factories operate in tax-free zones, with no corporation tax levied for the first five years of operation and then only at 8.75% for 20 years thereafter.  With labour costs as low as one-quarter as those of Spain (a days’ sailing away), and the ability to export into the EU tariff-free through Morocco’s membership of the Pan Euro Med (PEM) agreement, it is perhaps surprising that more car companies have not yet established production operations in the country.