Somaca
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryAutomotive
Founded1959 (1959)
FounderFiat, Simca.
Headquarters
Aïn Sebaâ
,
Morocco[1]
Area served
Europe, South America, Africa, Middle East, Asia-Pacific
Key people
Fabrice Delecroix
(Director)[2]
ProductsIncrease 71 824 (2016)
RevenueIncrease MAD 5.32 billion (2011)[3]
OwnerRenault S.A.S. (91%)
Renault Maroc (8%)
Private shareholders (1%)
Number of employees
1,200
ParentRenault[2]

Somaca (Société marocaine de constructions automobiles) is a Moroccan car manufacturer founded in 1959 by Fiat company Simca and currently owned by the French company Renault.

History

The company was founded in 1959 in by Moroccan government with technical assistance from Fiat S.p.A. and its French subsidiary, Simca. Fiat ended its production in the end of 2003 and 26% of the company was sold to Renault.[4] In 2005 Renault bought the majority stake (54%) of Somaca from Fiat S.p.A. now totalling 80% stake.[5]

Factory

The factory has a covered area of 90,000 m2. It has 1,200 employees and two production lines and assembles the Kangoo and the Kangoo Express (since 1999) for the local market, and the Dacia Logan (since 2005) for export to French and Spanish markets. Since 2009, SOMACA is also manufacturing the Sandero.[5] That year it produced 41,236 vehicles.[6]

Other Renault operations in Morocco

In February 2012 Carlos Ghosn and king Mohammed VI inaugurated the Renault-Nissan Alliance factory in Tangiers, specialised in the manufacturing of low-cost cars.[7] It covers 300 hectares, with a production capacity projected to reach 400,000 units per year. The Moroccan press had announced that this target would be attained by 2013,[8] however only 100,000 vehicles were produced between February 2012 and September 2013.[9][10]

The Tangiers factory belongs to a company called "Renault Tanger Mediterranée", a joint venture between Fipar-Holding (a subsidiary of the Moroccan pension fund Caisse de dépôt et de gestion) which controls 47.6% of the shares[11] and Renault SAS.

In addition to an initial investment in 2008-2009 of MAD1 billion of loans contracted from Moroccan banks,[12] the factory was financed by a €400 million investment, with Fipar-Holding providing €200 million and €173.5 million from the Moroccan state through a loan from the European Investment Bank.[13]

Renault cars in Morocco are distributed by Renault Maroc.[14] a joint venture between Renault SAS and SNI (Mohammed VI's holding company) which controls 20% of shares.[15]

Renault and Dacia cars in Morocco benefit from Non-tariff barriers to trade advantage; their cars are sold on a 7%VAT whereas other brands are sold on 20%VAT.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Dans les coulisses de Somaca: Les secrets de fabrication industrielle" [Behind the scenes of Somaca: Secrets of industrial production] (in French). Leconomiste.com. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Somaca" (in French). Kerix.info. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  3. ^ "Les 1000 premières entreprises au Maroc par ordre de chiffre d'affaires 2011 - Entreprises dont la raison sociale commence par la lettre S - (Page 1/2)" (in French). Maroc1000.net. Archived from the original on 21 February 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  4. ^ "MOROCCO: SOMACA CAR MANUFACTURERS AGREE TO SELL SOME OF THEIR HOLDINGS IN MOROCCO TO RENAULT COMPANY.(Brief Article)". findarticles.com. Archived from the original on 2010-08-03. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  5. ^ a b "RENAULT IN MOROCCO". renault.com. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  6. ^ "Somaca" (in French). Somaca.e-monsite.com. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  7. ^ Guerraoui, Saad (8 February 2012). "Renault to inaugurate giant Tangier plant". Middle-east-online.com. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  8. ^ Atika Haimoud (10 February 2009). "Maghress:Renault sans Nissan à Tanger". Aujourd'hui le Maroc. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  9. ^ "Maghress: Renault-Nissan de Tanger : Exportation du 100.000ème véhicule". Finances News. 13 September 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  10. ^ Nasser Djama (September 2013). "Maroc : Renault Tanger exporte sa 100 000ème voiture vers l'Europe". Usine Nouvelle. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  11. ^ S.E.H (2011-03-31). "Un institut pour former les futurs opérateurs et techniciens de Renault Tanger". La Vie Eco. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  12. ^ "Le capital de Renault Tanger Exploitation augmenté de 135 MDH". La Vie Eco. 11 March 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  13. ^ "RENAULT TANGER-FINANCEMENT INTERMEDIE". EIB. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  14. ^ "Interactive World Map:Morocco". Renault. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  15. ^ Mohamed B. Fall (13 February 2008). "Les Afriques | Maroc : la SNI élargit son portefeuille au tourisme | le journal de la finance Africaine". Les Afriques. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  16. ^ "Renouvellement des taxis : 3 500 dossiers en attente". Quellevoiture.ma. 12 March 2013. Archived from the original on 15 January 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2014. Cela est principalement dû au prix de la Logan, vendue à 97 500 DH avec une TVA de 7% tandis qu'elle est de 20% pour les véhicules équivalents importés. Les propriétaires de taxis recevront une prime de 35 000 DH.

External links

Automotive industry in Morocco
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A.
Renault
Authority control databases
Categories