VW Group's Spanish brand Seat has announced plans to expand in Algeria following the group's opening of a multi brand vehicle assembly plant in Relizane last July and the launch of the redesigned Ibiza there.
Seat president Luca de Meo, purchasing chief Klaus Ziegler, and Mourad Oulmi, CEO of local importer and assembler Sovac, met recently with Algerian prime minister Ahmed Ouyahia and industry minister Youcef Yousfi to discuss the future of the automotive industry in Algeria and long term collaboration between the country and the VW group.
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Seat said it has an "ambitious growth objective for upcoming years" and North Africa, together with Latin America, plays a key role in this strategy. Algeria is at the centre of the North Africa growth plan and the company was the leading brand in the project to represent the group's plans in the country.
This is also the first time Seat cars have been assembled outside Europe. All vehicles assembled in Relizane are sold in Algeria. As well as Seat's Ibiza, the plant also builds Skoda's Fabia and Ovtavia and VW's Caddy with the new Polo to follow later this year.
Seat is promoting CNG (compressed natural gas) technology in Algeria, as it does in Europe. Consequently, during his visit to Algeria, de Meo also met with Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddourla, the CEO of Sonatrach, the country's major gas company.
De Meo said: "North Africa is a natural growth area for Seat, which is currently in a phase of internationalisation. The inauguration of the Relizane plant in July 2017 marked a historic milestone for us, and this is the first time we are producing outside European borders. Here in Algeria, we are building cars made by and for Algerians." The company has now launched the Ibiza and will begin assembling "other models in order to meet the demand by Algerian customers".
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By GlobalDataOulmi said: "The launch of Sovac Production last July marked a new era for the automotive industry in Algeria, thanks to the partnership with the Volkswagen Group. Beyond a production plan rich in models, 2018 will see the launch of the second phase of Sovac Production. We will start the integration and development of automotive subcontracting. We will encourage OEMs to move to Algeria and produce spare parts for the domestic market and for export."
He acknowledged Seat's assistance with training and logistics.
At 8,121 units, the Ibiza accounted for almost 50% of the 17,000 cars assembled last year in Relizane.
Following launch of the fifth generation Ibiza, the Leon and Arona will follow within months.
Seat wants to develop a supplier network and an event for suppliers at Relizane plant has been scheduled with Sovac in the next few weeks.
Currently, the plant employs 550 but the long term aim is to create up to 1,800 jobs plus an estimated 3,500 additional roles at suppliers and logistics providers.
Algerian production, logistics and quality assurance employees were trained on site by group brand workers from other plants. Algerian managers underwent a training programme lasting several months at the production locations of the brands. This 'train the trainer' programme provided supervisors and managers with practical skills, enabling them to explain standardised procedures to their employees and train them in how to apply these procedures.
