Moroccan car manufacturer Neo Motors started selling the nation’s first domestically produced vehicle this month, which could compete with similarly priced combustion cars from Renault SA-owned Dacia and Chinese brands, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
The report highlighted that the company will initially be producing 3,000 units a year of the three-door passenger model that will cost $20,000. The annual output is expected to rise to 15,000 vehicles within three years.
Chief Executive Officer Nassim Belkhayat told Bloomberg about the company’s plans to list on the Casablanca Stock Exchange as NEO aims to expand into electric-vehicle production. The automaker is in talks with the African Development Bank on further financing options, according to its CEO.
Founded in 2017-2018, Neo is seeking to turn the North African nation into a manufacturing and trade hub open to both the West and China, according to Bloomberg.
“We wanted to make a car for the people, just like Volkswagen did a century ago,” Belkhayat said. “We made our own body, our own frame and electric cables system and source the rest to 43 local suppliers.”
According to the report, the project received a boost when Peugeot started making engines at its new Kenitra plant in Morocco, providing a component that the country’s automakers previously had to import.