Moroccan auto market in 2020 falls by 11.6% as the pandemic, lockdowns and fall in tourism affect sales. Full-Year sales have been 129.414, while the leader Dacia keeps gaining market share (+0.7%).
Economic Environment
The economy shrank 9.0% on an annual basis in Q3, according to preliminary government figures, softening somewhat from the near 15.0% contraction recorded in Q2. An uptick in agricultural production is set to have driven the moderation, although continued contractions in the industrial and textile sectors will have weighed on overall output. This comes amid tumbling consumer sentiment, with the household confidence index dropping to a series-low reading in Q3.
Furthermore, a rapid increase in daily Covid-19 cases through October forced the government to extend the state of emergency to 10 November, boding ill for activity in Q4. Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings downgraded the country’s credit rating to BB+ from BBB-, effectively cutting it to junk status, due to the harsh impact of the pandemic on the country’s finances and debt levels.
Market Trend
The Moroccan car market has been hit in 2020 by the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic and by the consequent drop in tourism, which has impacted sales significantly.
Renault, the first investor acting in the country, is improving local plant capacity and actually export in near 70 markets, while PSA is opening the first plant in the country.
Following four years of growth, the domestic light vehicles market established in 2018 the third all-time record in a string with 173.980 units. However, in 2019 the trend changed and due to lower demand and slow economic growth, ending the year at 160.200 units, down 7.9% from the previous year.
After starting the year with a positive trend, the market quickly collapsed in March as the virus struck. The sharpest drop in sales this year was in April when sales declined by 90.2%. The market quickly recovered, in fact, it was flat in July (-0.7%), and reported double-digit growth for the rest of the year except for December (-20.6%).
Indeed, Full-Year sales for 2020 have been 129.414, reporting a decline of 11.6% compared to 2019.
Brand-wise, this year the leader Dacia (-17.4%) gained 0.7% market share, followed by Renault (-34.2%), which lost 2.5% share. Hyundai (-15%) ended up third -up 1 spot- and gained 0.3% market share.
The most sold model in the country remains the Dacia Dokker with 8.722 sales (-28%), holding 6.7% share.
