OPmobility opens fourth Moroccan factory as it plans 770 job cuts in France and Germany
In Morocco, OPmobility says its new factory will create more than 100 jobs. In France and Germany, the same auto supplier plans to cut 770 positions. The stark contrast comes from a group that called in January for European rules favoring components made in the Union.
75% European components in electric cars. That was what OPmobility chief Félicie Burelle called for in January, alongside the heads of Valeo and Forvia. Nine months later, she has just inaugurated her group’s fourth Moroccan factory, in Kénitra.
In a joint opinion piece published on January 19, the three French suppliers called on Brussels to impose this threshold to protect their factories from foreign competition. Components made in Morocco would fall outside this European scope. This industrial offensive, which targeted Moroccan production in particular had already raised concerns for automakers based in the kingdom.
On October 19, the scene changed. OPmobility, formerly Plastic Omnium, announced the opening of a new production site in Kénitra’s Atlantic Free Zone. The factory will make exterior body parts for a major international automaker, whose name remains confidential.
More than 100 jobs are to be created there. According to OPmobility’s official statement, the new site brings the group’s workforce in Morocco to more than 1,400 employees, including 510 in Kénitra. The company now has two factories in the city and two more in Tangier.
770 jobs at risk in France and Germany
Yet two weeks before the inauguration, OPmobility announced a major restructuring plan in Europe. The proposal calls for 460 job cuts in Germany and 310 in France, according to Reuters.
In Germany, the supplier is considering closing its body-parts factory in Sterbfritz and distributing its production among other sites in the country. In France, it plans to consolidate research and development activities in Lachelle, in the Oise department, and reduce capacity at its factory in Flers-en-Escrebieux, in the Nord department.
The group cites a slowdown in the automotive market, changes in customer orders and difficulties in the hydrogen sector. Yet its sales continue to rise: on Wednesday, October 21, OPmobility reported quarterly revenue of 2.44 billion euros, up 2.8% on a like-for-like basis and at constant exchange rates.
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This expansion in Morocco comes as Paris and Berlin have just agreed on European production criteria that would leave factories in Morocco outside the benefits reserved for “Made in Europe.” Yet equipment made in Kénitra will supply the production lines of a major international automaker.
OPmobility has been present in Morocco since 2013, where it already makes energy storage systems, lighting equipment and body parts. Its new Kénitra site, next to a factory opened in 2018, uses automated technologies for production, handling and storage. The group says it will meet growing demand from its customers.
