SEAT President Luca de Meo, SEAT Vice-President for Purchasing Klaus Ziegler, and Mourad Oulmi, the CEO of SOVAC and SOVAC Production, SEAT’s importer and the assembly partner of the Volkswagen Group in Algeria, met with Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia and Industry Minister Youcef Yousfi to discuss the future of the automotive industry in Algeria and the long-term collaboration between the country and the Volkswagen Group, following the Group’s inauguration of a multi-brand vehicle assembly plant in Relizane last July. The meeting was also attended by Begoña Cristeto, Spanish Government secretary general of Industry.
SEAT targets promoting CNG technology in Algeria, as it does in Europe, as it is indeed a sustainable alternative to traditional and electric powertrains. CNG emits 85% less nitrogen oxide than diesel engines, reduces CO2 emissions by 25% compared to petrol engines and eliminates almost all suspended particulates. In this sense, during his visit to Algeria Luca de Meo also met with Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddourla, the CEO of Sonatrach, the country’s major gas company.
SEAT has an ambitious growth objective for upcoming years and North Africa, together with Latin America, plays a key role in this strategy. With its strong potential, Algeria is at the centre of SEAT’s North Africa growth plan, and the company was appointed as the leading brand in the project to represent the Volkswagen Group’s plans in the country. Additionally, this project plays a key role for SEAT, as this is the first time the brand assembles cars outside Europe, making it a major milestone for the Spanish carmaker. All the vehicles assembled in Relizane are sold in Algeria.
After his meeting with the Algerian Prime Minister, the President of SEAT highlighted that “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. Today we are presenting the fifth generation Ibiza, and in the upcoming months we expect to begin assembling other models in order to meet the demand by Algerian customers.”
Source: SEAT
