As the Kingdom’s leading export sector, the industry is shifting its focus towards electric mobility and batteries.
The country’s industrial transformation is now underpinned by a mechanical engineering ecosystem of continental scale. According to data accompanying the draft Finance Bill for 2027, the automotive industry is consolidating its status as the leading national and African export sector, with 159 billion dirhams in international sales. This performance is underpinned by a local content rate of around 70 per cent and a direct contribution of 24 per cent to overall industrial value added. Figures recorded at the end of August 2026 confirm this upward trajectory, with the sector’s exports reaching over 116 billion dirhams – a year-on-year increase of 14.5 per cent – accounting for more than a third of the country’s total exports.
Expansion of industrial capacity and a shift towards batteries
This growth momentum is underpinned by the ambitious expansion plans being rolled out by the major car manufacturers based in the country. The Renault Group is launching a programme aimed at increasing its annual production capacity to five hundred thousand vehicles by 2030, whilst achieving eighty per cent local content and establishing a research and engineering centre in Tangier. At the same time, Stellantis is continuing to expand its Kenitra site to produce 400,000 vehicles and 350,000 engines per year, incorporating new models based on its smart platform. This industrial roll-out is accompanied by the development of a comprehensive electric battery supply chain, backed by major international investors such as Gotion High-Tech, COBCO, BTR and TINCI, with the launch of a gigafactory project involving 14 billion dirhams to cover the entire supply chain, from critical minerals to recycling.
Benefits for technological sovereignty and skilled employment
The establishment of this state-of-the-art infrastructure promotes the move towards higher-end locally produced equipment and reduces dependence on imported technology. Public schemes dedicated to industrial research and innovation – extended until 2028 with an increased budget of nine hundred million dirhams – are supporting the emergence of one hundred innovative projects each year within national small and medium-sized enterprises. This industrial growth is creating highly skilled jobs for local engineers and technicians, driving the decarbonisation of manufacturing processes and strengthening the region’s competitiveness within global value chains for sustainable mobility.
