Morocco plant Kenitra
Stellantis Kenitra: Morocco’s automotive powerhouse accelerates
In Kenitra, Morocco, Stellantis is putting its smallest models in the spotlight to help the rest of the group keep pace with the future.
Others build their factories on greenfield sites. But when Hakim Semmami first came to Kenitra, there was nothing but vastness, desert and sand. That was little more than ten years ago, yet in the meantime three dozen factories have arisen here on the sandy 600 hectares of the Atlantic Free Zone, halfway between Casablanca in the south, and Tangier in the north, providing work for over 20,000 people. The reason for this is the Kenitra plant, for which King Mohammed VI sent what was then, still PSA into the desert: the contract was signed in 2015, and four years later the first cars rolled off the line.
From 100,000 to 200,000: Kenitra’s capacity surge
After Renault had already been operating plants in Tangier and Casablanca since 2012, it was then PSA that conjured up the third and so far last car production facility here out of the sand. Built for around 600 million euros, it was originally designed for an annual capacity of 100,000 vehicles. “But by 2020 we had already achieved twice that, three years ahead of the original plan,” says Semmami, who after the start in Kenitra has now risen to head of Stellantis communications in Morocco. Output rose from 15 units per hour to 30, and the number of employees has grown from around 3,000 at the beginning to 5,620 today.
And because all three Stellantis and Renault plants in Morocco are running at full capacity, the North Africans have displaced South Africa from the top of the continent’s car-producing nations with total output of 700,000 vehicles a year. By the end of the decade, production is set to rise to one million vehicles. Overall, the automotive industry in the country offers around 180,000 jobs, accounting for about nine per cent of all jobs in the country. At the same time, it generates around 16 per cent of gross domestic product.
Although around 80 per cent of production is exported – mainly to Europe – the roughly 39 million Moroccans themselves are increasingly contributing to higher capacity utilisation. Their car market is growing and last year expanded by a record 33 per cent to 235,000 registrations.
Scaling up microcars: Kenitra’s second production line
While the plant in Kenitra, with engine assembly, press shop and paint shop, was originally intended only for the Peugeot 208, since 2019 the Moroccans have had a second production line. In a plant-within-a-plant, they are scaling up the smallest models in the Stellantis range and building the microcars that, on the far side of the Mediterranean, can already be driven by 15-year-olds as the Citroën Ami, Fiat Topolino and Opel Rocks-e, and which, with prices starting at just under 8,000 euros, define the lower end of electromobility. Originally designed for 20,000 vehicles a year, the output is now already more than twelve per hour and 70,000 by the end of a year.
The fact that the two-seaters can be offered at such a low price is not only due to the modest drive system with an eight-horsepower motor and a 5.5 kWh battery for 75 standard kilometres, the pared-down equipment and the low production costs here in Morocco, but also to the simple design. Once the tubular space frame has been welded together, things move very quickly. The plastic body is bonded to the metal frame in a kind of oven and the interior is installed with just a few screws or clips: instead of 13 hours as for the Peugeot 208, the team in Morocco needs only 129 minutes for this.
For a few months now, there has also been a new hall next door where they assemble another model series for micromobility: the Fiat Tris. As an electric three-wheeler with moped-style handlebars in the open cabin and a flatbed at the back large enough for a Euro pallet, it is intended to succeed the legendary Ape, which Piaggio has no longer been offering in Europe since the end of 2024. Already on sale in Morocco, the three-wheeler will soon be crossing the Mediterranean and aims to conquer the continent. That is also why they are really stepping on the gas in Kenitra and increasing the output rate month by month.
Facts & figures: Stellantis Kenitra plant
Investment volume (construction): around 600 million euros
Production capacity: up to 535,000 vehicles per year
Employees: just under 6,000 (female share: 14 percent)
Automation: low; 200–300 AGVs in use; expansion to 1,000 planned
Models: Peugeot 208, Citroën Ami, Fiat Topolino, Opel Rocks‑e, Fiat Tris
Moroccan workforce drives Kenitra production
The plant currently employs just under 6,000 people, working in five sets of three shifts of eight hours each. Almost all of them are Moroccan, the proportion of women is, according to Semmami, a high 14 per cent by African standards, and only about half of the workforce comes from the region. It was part of the project and a requirement of the king to give people from other, less well-developed parts of the desert state a job as well, says the PR manager.
That’s also one of the reasons why automation in Kenitra is not as advanced as in many other plants. Even the two to three hundred automatic driverless transport systems (FTS) were a point of contention, Semmami recalls, laughing about a typically African compromise. The government was only satisfied once they had brought vehicle production directly into the plant. All the more so when Kenitra was then awarded an additional 1,000 FTS per year, which are soon to whirr through other Stellantis factories.
Kenitra embraces electric drives and green initiatives
In the summer before last, however, there was even more reason to celebrate in the free-trade zone. Stellantis and the kingdom agreed on the investment of a further 300 million euros, which will create 2,000 new jobs and more than double capacity to 535,000 vehicles. Kenitra will then be able not only to build up to 135,000 micro-cars per year, but also, alongside the 208, a second full-size car. To this end, Stellantis is also investing heavily in engine production in the Moroccan desert, which is to reach a capacity of 350,000 powertrains in two phases – including a modern mild hybrid. This too is intended to help increase the local content from the current good two-thirds to three-quarters.
However, if what the local media are reporting is true, not every one of the new cars will need a traditional engine. Because apparently the fastback version of the Grande Panda is to be built in Morocco – and also with an electric drive. After all, the Moroccans already have a bit of experience with this thanks to the micro models.
While the Tris has indeed made its debut in Morocco, the longing for electric cars among full-size models is still not that strong in Casablanca, Rabat or Marrakech. The charging infrastructure is slow and full of gaps, and interest in sustainability is nowhere near as great as on the other side of the Mediterranean.
That also applies to the plant itself, as Semmami has to admit. Even though a team in Kenitra is working on reducing the CO2 footprint, investigating water recycling and drawing up plans for solar power. In addition, the Moroccans pride themselves on low energy consumption of 425 kWh per vehicle and are hoping to be connected to green electricity, whose production in Morocco is currently being ramped up on a large scale.
Until then, Kenitra is already ensuring a smooth connection to the future for the rest of the Stellantis world. And that can be taken quite literally. Because between final assembly for the 208 and engine production, they have added another hall under the roof, where they produce up to 200,000 wallboxes per year for Stellantis subsidiary Free2Move.
Impressions from the Stellantis Kenitra plant:
