Morocco’s Neo Motors plans to expand into EV production

Moroccan company Neo Motors, which will begin selling the country’s first home-produced vehicle this month, plans to list on the kingdom’s primary stock exchange in order to expand into electric-vehicle production.

Neo Motors, which was created in 2017, would initially produce 3.000 units per year of its three-door passenger type priced at $20,000 and competing with similarly priced combustion cars from Renault SA-owned Dacia and Chinese companies.

Chief Executive Officer Nassim Belkhayat told Bloomberg in a Marrakech-held interview that the company plans to increase production to 15.000 automobiles per year within three years and offer electric vehicles. Neo is reportedly in discussions with the African Development Bank about further financing sources.

Belkahayt aspires that the brand would sell 2500 cars by 2024.

The company’s intentions would be another step forward for Morocco’s automobile industry, which the government has nurtured as part of a larger effort to transform the North African country on Europe’s borders into a manufacturing and commerce powerhouse open to both the West and China. 

Stellantis NV already assembles Peugeot and Renault automobiles here, with authorities now focusing on boosting value by manufacturing critical components locally.

Neo received significant notoriety when King Mohammed VI was introduced to the car alongside several officials earlier this year. During the COVID-19 epidemic, it obtained loans from Moroccan banks to assist in funding a MAD 50 million investment at its factory in Ain Aouda, near Rabat.

The first car model from Neo Motors is part of a project to promote the Made-in-Morocco label in the automotive industry. Neo’s Ain Aouda factory has a capacity of 27.000 units per year and a local integration rate of 65%.

This project’s total anticipated investment is MAD 156 million, and it will eventually produce 580 jobs.

The company is cofounded by the current minister of youth, culture, and communication, Mehdi Bensaid, who previously cleared out that he occupies no responsibility position at Neo and is just contributing in a financial manner as cofounder.