VW to build low-cost models in Morocco?

The deputy mayor of Tangier, Morocco, has confirmed that he has been contacted by members of Volkswagen's top brass about potentially building a factory on the outskirts of the city.

Interviewed by French newspaper Les Echos, deputy mayor Fouad el Omari explained that the Wolfsburg-based automaker is interested in setting up shop in Morocco in order to build low-cost cars for the African and Asian markets.  The cars would use a high percentage of existing parts and would rival the Dacia Logan, a four-door sedan that is also built in Morocco and becoming tremendously popular.

El Omari has not disclosed when Volkswagen will make a decision on the matter, and he has not mentioned whether or not the German automaker will benefit from the tax breaks and other miscellaneous financial incentives that Renault enjoyed when it built a Dacia factory in Tangier last year.  In the past, Morocco has been desperate to jump-start its local auto industry in order to renew its aging fleet of vehicles.

Volkswagen has neither confirmed nor denied the report, but it has hinted several times in the past that it is mulling the launch of sub-division that will exclusively manufacture budget cars.  The move that would increase its presence in key markets around the globe and help it reach its ambitious goal of becoming the world's largest automaker by 2018.