Just-auto.com
Dave Leggett
Ficosa has established itself in Africa for the first time, opening a new production centre in Rabat (in the Technopolis free zone), Morocco. With an investment of EUR50m (US$61m), the new plant will employ roughly 700 people and post an estimated yearly turnover of EUR150m by 2022.
At this new plant, which has a total surface area of 12,000 sqm that can be expanded to 17,000, Ficosa is inaugurating its ‘Centre of Excellence in Cameras’ for the whole group, where the company will develop and produce highly complex vision systems. These facilities will also produce electric cable sets. In addition, they will manufacture traditional products for the local market, such as rear-view mirrors, shifter systems and washer systems, with the goal of providing a better service.
“The set-up of Ficosa Group’s first production centre in Morocco brings forth new development and performance for the national automotive industry. In so doing, Morocco will lure new high technological crafts contributing to the automotive sector’s shift towards a higher end. The local value chain is getting diverse and more integrated,” said Mr Elalamy, Moroccan minister of Industry, Investments, Trade and Digital Economy.
Javier Pujol, Ficosa’s CEO, said: “Opening our first plant in Morocco is an important milestone for the company, as it allows us to land for the first time ever on the continent of Africa. At Ficosa we are strongly committed to these facilities, having made them our Centre of Excellence in Cameras. They will be a strategic part of the group, bolstering the Viladecavalls Technology Centre (Barcelona, Spain), the company’s global hub for new technologies in vision, connectivity, safety and efficiency for connected and driverless vehicles and e-mobility”.
“On behalf of the whole company, I would like to thank the Moroccan authorities for all their help and support with our landing in the country. I would also like to highlight Ficosa’s firm commitment to the local society and territory, as well as to generating employment in the area,” said Pujol at the opening ceremony held today which has been attended by the Moroccan Minister of Industry, Investments, Trade and Digital Economy, Mr Elalamy and other Moroccan authorities.
Also, in attendance at the event were Jose Pujol, Ficosa’s chairman, Yoshio Ito, executive vice president and CEO of Automotive and Industrial Systems of Panasonic Corporation, Masahisa Shibata, senior managing executive officer and SVP of Automotive and Industrial Systems of Panasonic Corporation, and Kunio Tanaka, managing director of Automotive and Industrial Systems of Panasonic Corporation; as well as prominent political personalities and representatives of the main automobile manufacturers along with the ambassadors of Spain and Japan.
