Morocco rising, Ford EV future, CO2-capturing car – the week
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Loading... - Azoulay Nadia
- 21 Feb 2023
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Despite modest sales numbers, Morocco is becoming a real success story as an automotive manufacturing hub. How will the country sustain it, we asked this week? Moroccans buy about 180,000 new cars every year, a relatively small number considering the country has a population of 37m. Despite this modest sales number, it is becoming a real success story as an automotive manufacturing hub and in 2018, passed South Africa as the biggest exporter of passenger cars on the continent. So, what are the drivers behind this steady expansion in production in the country? Read on to find out.
Lots of news from Ford this week, some, not all of it good, but EVs and batteries were mentioned a lot. So what better time for our resident futurist to eye the blue oval’s EV plans? The announcement of job cuts by Ford of Europe did not affect the timing of previously stated electric vehicle launches, the automaker said and there is another US battery plant in the works with tech courtesy CATL. New EVs start with a crossover this summer.
Ford’s announcement of job losses in Europe and the next steps on batteries in North America herald a more aggressive electrification stance. As the auto industry grapples with the energy transition ahead, the latest announcements point to the emerging seriousness of the associated industrial transformation that is getting inexorably closer. For Ford, there has been a feeling for a while now that the company needs to up its game on battery electric vehicles (BEVs) after a period when it seemed to focus too heavily on developing highly efficient ICEs and hybrids. A deal with Volkswagen to use its MEB platform for future Ford BEVs in Europe made good business sense, but also highlighted a gap in Ford’s proprietary electric vehicle tech development. Now, it is focusing on the business strategy and BEV supply chain. Read More…
