The German car manufacturing giant, Volkswagen, has decided to suspend its production in Algeria and move its plants to Morocco in the next few weeks.

The German car manufacturer, Volkswagen, has suspended its production in Algeria until further notice and cancelled its contract with its exclusive representative, Sovac Production.

In an statement to the German press agency, Deutschen Presse-Agentur, Volkswagen affirmed that “due to the political crisis in Algeria, Volkswagen has for the moment suspended production in this North African country. Deliveries to the country’s official partner, Sovac, have also been suspended.”

According to the Algerian French-language news source, Algerie Eco, a representative at Sovac Production denies that the German manufacturer has canceled the contract with his firm. He says that Volkswagen has decided to stop sending assembly kits to Algeria since last August because “more than 1500 assembly kits intended for the Relizane factory are still blocked at the port of Oran since last July and 2200 kits blocked at the European ports.”

The Sovac Production representative continued that these blockages are unexplained and “nearly 700 employees are technically unemployed” since “the plant has been shutdown since last September.”

In the same vein, the German newspaper Handelsblatt, which confirmed that the Volkswagen has put an end to its activity in Algeria, reported that the German automobile manufacturer is to set to move its plant to Morocco within the few upcoming weeks.

This plant is the largest in North Africa and the second largest in Africa after a plant situated in South Africa’s massive industrial complex of Uitenhage, 1000 kms south of Johannesburg.

This comes at a time when Volkswagen has recorded a 20 percent decrease in its sales in Morocco in November, after it sold only 8197 cars compared with Renault Group which sold 57276 cars in the same month. According to the ranking revealed by the Association of Vehicle Importers in Morocco (AIVAM), the German car manufacturer came in the 5th position below Hyundai, which sold 8885 cars.