Scania Maroc leads the way in sustainable business

Scania Maroc is a shining example of where increasingly sustainable business operations are being combined with growing truck and bus sales.

The famous old Moroccan city of Casablanca is surely an ideal place for using solar energy, given that on average the sun shines there for more than 2,900 hours a year.

And the sun is indeed an important factor in the growing role that renewable energy is playing in the business operations of Scania Maroc. Today, some 30 percent of the company’s new workshop on the outskirts of Casablanca is solar powered, with that figure rising to 100 percent at weekends.

Moreover, in light of Morocco’s scarce water resources, the company is also recycling rainwater (water recovered by a drainage system, injected into the Borehole and reused after treatment), which it then uses in cleaning processes and for watering the gardens outside its premises.

Investing in sustainability

These initiatives are only two examples of Scania Maroc’s shift towards a more environmentally and socially-engaged mindset, a process which is being overseen by the company’s Managing Director Monssif Abied.

“We’ve invested in sustainability as a way of business,” says Abied, who joined Scania 15 years ago and became MD four years later. “We believe that it’s vital to show our customers that we are committed to becoming more sustainable if we want them to be so too.”

The shift in approach also relates to the investment in the company’s new workshop, which Abied feels is a better reflection of Scania Maroc’s market position.

“We prioritised the health and safety aspect,” he says. “We want to look after our employees so that they can perform to the best of their abilities.”

248 Scania city buses to Rabat

And Scania Maroc’s market position has strengthened considerably in the past decade. The company’s share of truck sales in Morocco now stands at a market-leading 26 percent, having increased from an annual volume of 200 units to the current figure of 500, although Monssif Abied is targeting 800 units when market conditions improve from the current tough period.

There’s been real progress in bus sales too. The recent order to supply 248 Scania city buses to the public transport system of Morocco’s capital Rabat was a further sign of Scania Maroc’s growing reputation in the segment. Read more

The recipe for growth 

Monssif Abied returns to the theme of sustainability when he discusses the reasons for Scania Maroc’s growth.

“We’ve shown the quality of our solutions, and we now have an even stronger product than before, but I believe that our people are the main factor in our success. It’s one thing to have the right products, but if we don’t have the right people too, we won’t make it.”

And Abied adds that responsible growth is central to the company’s strategy, with a dedication to transparency meaning that it is not heedlessly chasing business.

“There are a lot of competitors out there, but we at Scania Maroc want to build a long-term, sustainable organisation and a business that grows a bit more each year.

“Because if we don’t prepare ourselves with the right materials and the right people, we’ll start losing customers as sure as trees lose leaves in autumn.”