Off the wire
• Int'l Charity Bazaar held in Warsaw  • Traditional festival of diplomatic spouses association held in Prague  • Spanish police detain man attempting to join IS  • Croatia's major opposition party elects new leader  • 55 killed in western Uganda clashes  • Egypt reiterates support for French-led Mideast peace conference  • Disney's "Moana" debuts to 81.1 mln USD in Thanksgiving box office  • 1st LD: Francois Fillon ahead in conservative primary runoff with 68.2 pct of vote  • Namibia's first HIV/AIDS conference attracts 350 delegates  • Urgent: Francois Fillon ahead in conservative primary runoff with 68.2 pct of vote  
You are here: 　 Home

Volkswagen to assemble first car in Algeria in June 2017

Xinhua, November 28, 2016 Adjust font size:

German giant automaker Volkswagen inked a Memorandum of Understanding on Sunday with its Algerian sales partner SOVAC to establish an assembly plant in the North African country, according to a senior official from SOVAC.

The plant will be set up in the province of Relizane, 220 km southwest of the capital Algiers, said Mourad Oulmi, chief executive officer of SOVAC group.

"As by the spring of 2017, the plant will start assembling gradually an average of 100 cars a day," Oulmi told reporters. "It will then assemble the latest Volkswagen Golf models, in addition to Seat Ibiza, Skoda Octavia and Volkswagen Caddy vans."

With an investment worth 180 million U.S. dollars, the plant, which aims to export to Africa and the Arab region, will produce 12,000 vehicles for the first year, and then gradually reach a volume of 100,000 units within five years, he added.

In addition, he said, the plant will ultimately generate 1,800 direct and 3,500 indirect jobs.

French automaker Renault and South Korean Hyundai have each already set up an assembly plant in Algeria.

A ministerial decree in 2014 required all foreign car dealers to establish assembly plants in Algeria, as part of the country's plan for industrialization. Endit