Tangier to produce, Frankfurt to sell: the European plan of this Chinese automotive supplier

Morocco’s selection is not solely driven by a search for lower costs. In an official document devoted to its Moroccan project, the Chinese automotive supplier explains that its major European customers are calling for more production located nearby. Sanlian specifically cites ZF, Schaeffler and Magna.

The expected gain is spectacular: the group estimates that transporting its parts, currently taking around 45 days from China, could be reduced to just 3 to 4 days thanks to its Moroccan factory. Its customers are therefore said to have explicitly asked it to establish production capacity around Europe.

This strategy accompanies the multiplication of international automotive factories around Tangier.

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But Sanlian does not intend merely to bring its machines closer to its customers. It also wants to bring its sales staff closer.

A factory in Morocco, sales staff in Germany

On August 6, the group announced the creation of a new branch in Frankfurt. According to the official notice published by Sanlian, 3 million euros are to be allocated to this German operation, particularly for offices, employees, business development and market monitoring.

Sales staff are to be sent directly to Germany in order to “reduce the response radius” for European customers, develop new contracts and locally handle negotiations, technical advice, as well as pre- and after-sales services. A former European entity, registered in Frankfurt in 2019 but having remained without any real activity, is to be dissolved at the same time.

Eleven days after this decision, Sanlian Technology Morocco was officially registered in Tangier. The announcement published by the group on August 19 confirms its establishment on plot 61 in the free zone of the Cité Mohammed VI Tanger Tech.

The group is preparing an initial industrial phase there representing an investment of approximately 13.9 million euros. Sanlian presents Morocco as its “external hub,” complementing its Chinese production center, with the aim of making further inroads into the mid- and high-end European market.

This establishment is part of a broader movement: Chinese industrial companies are now multiplying projects at Tanger Tech.

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The logic thus appears much clearer. Sanlian will retain its main industrial center in China, produce in Morocco much closer to its European markets, and station in Frankfurt the teams responsible for securing and monitoring orders. For this Chinese automotive supplier, the conquest of Europe will now play out between Tangier and Germany.