Moroccan Electric Car Startup Neo Motors Eyes Stock Market Debut for Funding

"The automotive industry is hungry for liquidity. It is therefore only natural that a listing on the Casablanca Stock Exchange is one of our objectives," said Nassim Belkhayat, the CEO and founder of the first Moroccan automaker. Neo Motors is also "in talks with the African Development Bank (AfDB) about other financing options," he said.

Founded in 2017, Neo Motors recently announced the launch, this November, of the commercialization of its first model unveiled last March in the presence of King Mohammed VI. It is a three-door SUV, which will be sold for 175,000 dirhams (3-cylinder version) and 185,000 dirhams (4-cylinder version), reports Agence Ecofin. "We wanted to make a car for the people, like Volkswagen did a century ago. We manufactured our own body, our own frame and our own electrical wiring system, and we entrusted the rest to 43 local suppliers," Belkhayat explained.

The Moroccan automaker aims to increase the production capacity of its plant located in the Kenitra region north of Rabat, to "15,000 vehicles per year within three years, and introduce electric models".