Stellantis invests in Morocco and fires in Italy: 3,100 hires in Kenitra, stop to production and projects on hydrogen in our country
Stellantis has just chosen to make the presence in Italy more and more faded to live to the great elsewhere. To be precise in Morocco.
While in Italy the fumes of the discharges and the letters of dismissal remain, in Kenitra – pretty industrial location north of Rabat – they bloom electric columns, “smart” platforms and the hiring 3,100 workers. Another beautiful story of “sustainable mobility” that begins with a one -way ticket outside our country.
The Italian-French-American group led by Antonio Filosa has decided to invest 1.2 billion euros to double the production in the Moroccan plant by 2030. The goal? Bring the factory to churn out one million vehicles per year. Electric, three-wheeled, low-consumption vehicles, complete with mini-hybrid engines and an eye on sustainability. And all this while the assembly chains are extinguished in Italy.
The news, even to say it, caused a motion of indignation by the League, which entrusted its economy department a fiery declaration: “We are bewildered by the absurd choice of Stellantis to invest billions in North Africa and hire workers in Morocco, when for decades the company willingly enjoyed money from the Italian public coffers. When they started closing the establishments. collective that have hit hundreds of Italian workers, who remained at home without work.
A predictable reaction, of course, but which photographs the short circuit between industrial rhetoric and employment reality. After all, Stellantis does not seem particularly troubled. Samir Cherfan head of the group’s operations in Morocco talks about “even more ambitious future“and rattles record numbers
The Moroccan plant, operational since 2019 and already expanded in 2022, has all the credentials to become the nerve center of the “Green” strategy of Stellantis. Conceived according to the principles of Industry 4.0, the production lines already churn out the Citroën Ami, the Opel Rocks-e and the Fiat Topolino. 535 thousand vehicles per year are prepared and produced hundreds of thousands of charging stations. All with an energy efficiency to make any Italian factory pale: only 425 kWh per vehicle produced. The official announcement was confirmed by the head of the Moroccan government Aziz Akhanouch, who spoke on the occasion of the inauguration ceremony for the expansion of the plant. The plan represents not only a production expansion, but also a milestone in the industrial strategy of Morocco and in the electrical transformation of the global automotive sector.
According to reports from the Moroccan authorities, the factory will bring the national production capacity to one million vehicles per year by the end of the decade, more than double the approximately 400 thousand vehicles produced currently. Inside the Kenitra plant, small-size electric vehicles and mini-hybrid engines will be assembled, thus aligning production to new environmental sustainability needs and energy transition. The introduction in Morocco is also expected to introduce, starting from February 2026, of the Smart Car platform of the Stellantis group, the same used for example for the production of the Fiat Grande Panda in Serbia. The project provides for investments for 702 million euros intended for suppliers, confirming the goal of strengthening the entire industrial supply chain and attracting new production companies in the Moroccan territory.
Meanwhile, while Africa advances, Stellantis throws the sponge on another front: that of hydrogen. End of the race for Pro One commercial vehicles powered by fuel cells, even before seeing the light. Too many costs, scarce infrastructures, absent incentives.
While in Italy someone chews bitter chews, in Piazza Affari Stellantis flies: +2.28% to 8.18 euros per share. An optimistic rebound after the 6.2% thud caused by the stop to hydrogen. Because if it is true that the words “emissions” and “industrial ethics” are taken in the conferences, only one thing interests the bag: the numbers. And those of Morocco are simply better.
