The day before yesterday (Sunday March 19), the Stellantis group announced in a press release on its official website that the construction of the Fiat plant in Algeria was going to end next August and that the first car would leave the assembly unit before the end of 2023.
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Yesterday (Monday March 20), the wali of OranSaid Sayoud, confirmed this information during an inspection visit he made to the project site in Tafraoui in the company of, among others, the director of Stellantis MENA (Middle East and North Africa), Samir Cherfan, and the Algerian Ambassador to Italy, Abdelkrim Touahria.
Judging the pace of work satisfactory“, the wali assured that the company Stellantis “provided all the capacities to deliver the project within the given deadlines”.
Work progress and integration rate: what you need to know
Regarding the progress of the work, S. Sayoud indicated that the construction of the first of the two buildings of the project has reached a 85% rate ; as for the second, it is at the stage of 30%. The level of progress on the external development work varies from one site to another, said the manager.
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Regarding the connection of the factory to the various networks, the wali of Oran affirmed that for electricity, telephone and Internet the operation is 100% complete. He further added that the water supply and the connection to the sewage network should be done “as soon as possible”.
On another register, Sayoud informed that the industrial zone of Tafraoui will reserve 40 hectares to “house the local suppliers and the companies of outsourcing in the automotive industry”.
For his part, the adviser to the Minister of Industry, Ahmed Zayed Salem indicated that the integration rate of the project will reach 30% in 2026. A part that includes “sheet metal, bodywork, paint and accessories such as seats, cables, steering wheel, plastic sheaths, housing, batteries, shock absorbers, tires”.
He will add that the partnership with Fiat foresees, from the outset, a SME support program“because, he explains, the agreement gives great importance to local subcontracting companies”.
After-sales service, job creation: the guarantees of Samir Cherfan
Regarding employment, the director of Stellantis MENA, Samir Cherfan, affirmed that “the plant will generate 600 direct jobs from its launch, and will have to reach 2,000 posts in the next three years”.
The wali of Oran on an inspection visit to the Fiat factory site in Tafraoui.
In addition, the Stellantis Group injected a first tranche of 200 million euros in the Fiat plant in Oran to launch the production of four models including the small city car, Fiat 500, and the compact van, Fiat Doblo.
About the spare, Samir Cherfan assured that a part will be produced in Algeria. “We quote, he specifies, the exhaust lines, the tires, the batteries, the bumpers and all the coverings, in particular the seats. »
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Finally, addressing the issue of after sales servicethe head of Stellantis said that the group intends, at the start, to open 30 points of sale spread over 28 wilayas with a total staff of 360 salespeople and 1,200 employees in the after-sales service.
The Fiat-Algeria network should reach 40 sales and after-sales points by the end of 2023, promises the same manager. To ensure optimal customer service, Fiat provides 50,000 after-sales references and a 15,000 m2 parts storage center.
