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Australian and Indian experiences in the automotive sector and prospects for Algeria
Towards the construction of a sustainable national mechanical industry
The strength of a national economy is not measured by the importance of petroleum income and annuities or reserves of foreign currency in the country, but rather to its capacity to produce industrial and technological production and to create real added value within the economy. Countries whose natural resources are their main source of income have fragile savings and vulnerable to external fluctuations, despite occasional trade surpluses. This economic model often perpetuates dependence, these countries almost entirely depend on imports for their basic needs, including food, drugs, equipment, transport and even weapons, making simple consumption markets for the benefit of advanced industrialized countries. On the other hand, the United States is living proof that the strength of an economy is measured by its production capacity, its industrial diversity and the depth of its financial market, not at its level of debt. They are one of the most indebted countries in the world, with more than $ 33,000 billion in debts. However, they remain the first world economic power thanks to their technological superiority, their advanced industries and the solidity of their financial institutions.
Algeria is oriented
towards industrial self -sufficiency
In recent years, Algeria has embarked on an ambitious path to self -sufficiency, not only in the agricultural sector, but also by widening ambition to the industrial sector, including automotive industry. A national campaign has been announced, aimed at recruiting Algerian talents, both inside and outside the country, in order to build an integrated mechanical industry guaranteeing the compliance of products to international standards. This campaign is participative and brings together specialists, research centers, universities and civil society.
The launch of this national campaign constitutes a positive and promising step, and it is desirable to continue this constructive and participative approach in all areas. It is also recommended to involve specialists in the country and members of the Algerian community abroad, as well as actors of civil society, in the organization of national scientific and university workshops, in order to formulate concrete and effective proposals which will contribute to serving the nation and responding to the aspirations of citizens. I had already advanced several proposals during my parliamentary mandate in the National People’s Assembly, the first being my parliamentary intervention in 2007, concerning the possibility of producing cars under the name of ‘Sonacom’ ‘, as long as the mother company manufactures trucks and buses. I then renewed it in 2011 during a parliamentary workshop organized with the Minister of Industry of the time, on the reality and the prospects of the automotive sector in Algeria. These proposals were made upon my return from missions to Australia and India, as part of my representation functions with the Algerian community abroad, which I represented in Parliament. I was thus able to discover the experience of these countries in terms of development in the automotive industry, and thus observe their development trajectories. In a previous article that I wrote in 2023 entitled: “A electric sound car? – The Norwegian experience in the electric car industry and its projection on Algeria! “, It is because Algeria is rich in lithium, or what is called white gold, which is at the heart of many technologies, including electric cars, which represent around 50 to 70 % of the cost of an electric car.
It should be noted that the Australian and Indian experiences in this area have characterized by a progressive and carefully thought out transition, which has enabled them to reach self -sufficiency in automotive construction and transform into two independent industrial nations in this strategic sector. The most striking steps in these two experiences can be summarized as follows:
Australian and Indian experience in the automotive industry
Australia and India have both built prosperous national automotive industries following a process in three main stages:
Phase 1 – Design of the exterior body of the vehicle: the two countries have started to make bodywork entirely (100%) designed locally. Australia has created its own national bodywork and used the American engine General Motors, while India has designed its own and relied on the Japanese Toyota engine.
Phase 2 – Celebration and launch: although the two cars (the Australian and the Indian) are not entirely national products, the event represented a crucial stage in the construction of the national industry, and thus made it possible to reach partial self -sufficiency and political encouragement to continue.
At that time, Australia and India celebrated their great industrial successes, in particular their remarkable progress in the automotive industry. Each country had built an important industrial base, even if the dream of a “100 % national industry” was not yet fully achieved. Despite this gap, the two governments were not content to celebrate, rather considering these achievements as a first stimulating step. So :
Australia has decided to enter a new phase focused on specialization in high -quality manufacturing, advanced technology and innovation in design and engineering, while strengthening cooperation between public and private sectors, as well as with universities and research centers.
The, for its part, has chosen to deepen its industrial strategy by attracting foreign investments, widening the national production base and encouraging ‘Made in India’ ‘initiatives, while improving industrial infrastructure and developing the skills of labor.
Thus, what happened in the two countries is that they have transformed the challenges into opportunities and began to go from the assembly and assembly phase to the actual manufacturing and local innovation phase, which was a new start to the realization of sustainable industrial sovereignty.
Phase 3 – Location of the engine industry: the two governments have taken the initiative to open the way to local talents and university research centers to develop the engine industry locally. After years of collaboration, Australia and India have been able to make entirely national engines, thus realizing the dream of an integrated industrial system.
Application of two experiences to the Algerian context
Given the Algerian context, the implementation of a similar model appears realistic and achievable in progressive stages, which can be summarized as follows:
First step – Algerian automotive body design: as part of Algeria’s efforts to achieve industrial independence and locate technology, it is proposed to launch a national strategic project aimed at designing a 100% Algerian automotive body, developed by purely Algerian talents, both within the country and among the Algerian engineers and experts abroad, A world automobiles, these talents, attracted by the major industrial nations with attractive wages to avoid the flight of knowledge and the transfer of technology to their countries of origin.
Today, they can be called upon to contribute to this unique national project. To start, we could rely on an engine imported from technological partners such as China, Italy or Germany … etc, while waiting for the development of local engines later. This approach would accelerate the launch of the prototype and, at the same time, to constitute a base of Algerian knowledge and engineering. This first prototype model can be called ” Sonacom 1 ”.
Second step – Manufacturing of Algerian engines: after having established the chassis manufacturing industry, the transition consists in developing an entirely Algerian engine in partnership with universities, research centers and Algerian experts abroad, launching the integrated model under the name of “Sonacom 2”. Australian and Indian experiences constitute models of success that can be imitated for the construction of an integrated national automotive industry in Algeria. This objective cannot be achieved without the adoption of a realistic and progressive approach, combining available natural resources and human capacities, while guaranteeing the opening to strategic partnerships and foreign technologies during the transition phase.
Mohamed Gahche
Economist and Political Analyst
Washington, DC USA