Ford Motor Co. F has opened a new regional sales office in Casablanca and a purchasing office in Tangier. These new offices in Morocco are part of the company’s efforts to grow its North African operations.
According to the Director of Ford Middle East & North Africa, Morocco offers an ideal business environment with a skilled workforce, increasing automotive suppliers and access to ports, among other benefits. Ford’s vehicles have been sold in Morocco since 1911. It is the largest market for the company in North Africa. Ford has sold 3,400 vehicles in Morocco year to date, up 26% from the period Jan–Apr 2014. The automaker expects higher sales growth in 2015 compared with the industry growth rate of 11%.
Ford plans to launch seven new vehicles and open 13 new retail facilities in North Africa in 2015. Also, the automaker intends to open eight new showrooms in Morocco by the end of the year. Further, it plans to increase the parts purchased from North Africa-based suppliers by over 100%. These suppliers will provide auto parts to various Ford plants, including the Valencia, Spain plant that was recently expanded.
On Feb 5, 2015, Ford reported that it was in the final stages of upgrading its manufacturing plant in Valencia, Spain, which involves an investment of $2.6 billion, the highest by any automaker in that country’s auto industry. The investment boosted the plant’s production capacity to 450,000 vehicles annually. This year, Ford will increase the plant’s production by 40% to 400,000 units. The investment also increased the number of nameplates produced by the plant.
The improvement will position the Valencia plant among Ford’s biggest and most flexible units in the world. Currently, it can adjust production volume among the six nameplates assembled there. These nameplates are Mondeo, Kuga, S-MAX, Galaxy, Tourneo Connect and Transit Connect. The facility also builds the Fusion wagon, both the five-door and four-door variants, including the Fusion Hybrid.
Ford currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked automobile stocks include CarMax Inc. KMX,O'Reilly Automotive Inc. ORLY and U.S. Auto Parts Network, Inc. PRTS, all carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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