Somaca () is a Moroccan car manufacturer founded in 1959 by

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

company

Simca Simca (; Mechanical and Automotive Body Manufacturing Company) was a French automaker, founded in November 1934 by Fiat S.p.A. and directed from July 1935 to May 1963 by Italian Henri Pigozzi. Simca was affiliated with Fiat and, after Simca boug ...

and currently owned by the French company

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

History

The company was founded in 1959 in by Moroccan government with technical assistance from

Fiat S.p.A. Fiat S.p.A., or ''Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino'' (Italian Automobile Factory of Turin), was an Italian holding company whose original and core activities were in the automotive industry, and that was succeeded by Fiat Chrysler Automob ...

and its French subsidiary,

. Fiat ended its production in the end of 2003 and 26% of the company was sold to Renault. In 2005 Renault bought the majority stake (54%) of Somaca from Fiat S.p.A. now totalling 80% stake.

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 The Dacia Logan is a family of automobiles produced and marketed jointly by the French manufacturer Renault and its Romanian subsidiary Dacia since mid-2004, and was the successor to the Dacia 1310 and Dacia Solenza. It has been produced a ...

(since 2005) for export to French and Spanish markets. Since 2009, SOMACA is also manufacturing the Sandero. That year it produced 41,236 vehicles.

Other Renault operations in Morocco

In February 2012

Carlos Ghosn Carlos Ghosn (; ; ar, كارلوس غصن; , born 9 March 1954) is a businessman who holds Brazilian and French nationality. Ghosn was the CEO of Michelin North America, chairman and CEO of Renault, chairman of AvtoVAZ, chairman and CEO of Ni ...

and

king Mohammed VI Mohammed VI ( ar, محمد السادس; born 21 August 1963) is the King of Morocco. He belongs to the 'Alawi dynasty and acceded to the throne on 23 July 1999, upon the death of his father, King Hassan II. Upon ascending to the throne, Moha ...

inaugurated the Renault-Nissan Alliance factory in

Tangiers Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the ca ...

, specialised in the manufacturing of low-cost cars. 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, however only 100,000 vehicles were produced between February 2012 and September 2013. 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 The Caisse de dépot et de gestion (French for Deposit and Management Fund, shortened as CDG) is a state-owned financial institution which manages long-term savings in Morocco. Given its substantial assets it also acts as a large investor in the c ...

) which controls 47.6% of the shares and Renault SAS. In addition to an initial investment in 2008-2009 of MAD1 billion of loans contracted from Moroccan banks, 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. Renault cars in Morocco are distributed by Renault Maroc. a joint venture between Renault SAS and SNI (Mohammed VI's holding company) which controls 20% of shares. Renault and Dacia cars in Morocco benefit from

Non-tariff barriers to trade Non-tariff barriers to trade (NTBs; also called non-tariff measures, NTMs) are trade barriers that restrict imports or exports of goods or services through mechanisms other than the simple imposition of tariffs. The Southern African Development C ...

advantage; their cars are sold on a 7%

VAT A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the en ...

whereas other brands are sold on 20%VAT.

References

External links

Official Somaca website
{{Authority control Car manufacturers of Morocco Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1959 1959 establishments in Morocco Fiat Renault