In early 2026, the Tunisian government launched a new phase of its energy transition, placing a strong emphasis on electric mobility. The stated goal is to have 125,000 electric cars and 12,000 public charging stations by 2035. To achieve this, a new tax and financial system will came into force January 2026, accompanied by a vast plan to roll out charging infrastructure across the country.

According to the National Energy Management Agency (ANME), the main drivers of this ambitious programme would be:
✔ Total exemption from customs duties and consumption tax on imports. In addition, there will be a dramatic reduction in VAT, from 19% to 7%. This reduction is intended to bridge the purchase price gap, which is the main obstacle to the widespread adoption of these vehicles.
✔ Owners will also benefit from a 50% reduction on registration fees (vehicle registration document) and on the annual road tax sticker, thereby reducing the cost of use over time.
✔ A subsidy of 10,000 dinars is granted for the purchase of any new electric vehicle intended for public companies, local authorities and professionals. A pilot phase is primarily targeting individual taxi owners, a strategic sector in the urban landscape.
✔ The government will cover part of the interest margins applied to bank loans taken out to purchase electric vehicles. This measure aims to reduce the overall cost of the loan and encourage investment by both households and professionals.

According to local experts, behind these announcements lies a structural imperative: the transport sector weighs heavily on the national energy balance sheet. The ANME estimates that it accounts for around 30% of final energy consumption and more than a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions in Tunisia.

« The French group Asteel Flash plans to expand its activities in Tunisia through new investments with a strong technological component », announced its CEO Nicolas Denis following a working session in mid-February with officials from the Tunisian Ministry of Industry.

Based in Tunisia, where it already employs 1,400 engineers and managers, Asteel Flash plans to launch an expansion project based on the most advanced technologies in the sector. The stated objective is ambitious: to double turnover and exports while creating new jobs.
With 18 production sites worldwide, the group, which exports all of its products, generates 15% of its global turnover in Tunisia. In 2025, it recorded total international revenues of €900 million, confirming the strategic importance of the Tunisian site in its industrial operations.
During the meeting with the Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy, Fatma Thabet Chiboub, the CEO praised the quality of Tunisian skills, particularly those of engineers and senior technicians, which are considered a key driver of competitiveness.

Tunisia has nearly 150 companies operating in this field, employing around 70,000 people. Exports in this sector reached nearly 3.5 billion dinars at the end of 2024, illustrating its growing importance in the national economy. The authorities have also launched the development of a competitiveness charter aimed at increasing the sector’s added value from 22% to 40% by 2030, with the creation of 30,000 additional jobs.

Lear Corporation, a global leader in automotive seat and electronic systems technologies, has inaugurated its new Thermal Comfort Systems (TCS) manufacturing facility at PAEB Site II in Menzel Bourguiba, PAEB announced on its LinkedIn page.
These innovative technologies include active seat heating, ventilation and cooling, as well as lumbar support, massage function, steering wheel heating and presence detection.

Key figures:
– An investment of around 100 million Tunisian dinars for the construction component alone
– A 32,000 m² covered site, equipped with state-of-the-art technology and designed with safety and environmental protection at its core
– 4,500 direct jobs created once fully operational

With 255 sites in 37 countries and more than 173,700 employees, Lear Corporation is a global leader in its sector.

The German group LAPP (Lapp Holding SE), a global leader specialising in cabling, connectivity and connection technology solutions, announced at the end of December in Tunis that it would soon be opening an R&D centre in Tunisia.
The announcement was made by Michael Seddig, CEO and COO EMEA of the group, following a working session at the headquarters of FIPA Tunisia, the Tunisian facilitator for foreign investment in Tunisia.
Through this project, LAPP has chosen Tunisia as its regional platform for industrial innovation. The future research and development centre will strengthen local capabilities in advanced industrial technologies and contribute to Tunisia’s positioning in technology-intensive segments. According to FIPA-Tunisia, this investment is motivated by several key factors: a competitive business climate, the availability of highly skilled talent and an unwavering institutional commitment to investment.
This project also illustrates Tunisia’s ability to attract strategic investment in the technologies of tomorrow and consolidate its role in international industrial value chains.
With a presence in more than 80 countries and 5,800 employees across 26 international production sites, LAPP’s latest announcement further consolidates the prosperity enjoyed by the German automotive industry in Tunisia.

Visteon Corporation’s decision to invest in Tunisia was not an ordinary one, but a strategic choice confirmed by the company’s senior management at the highest level. CEO Sachin Lawande made a point of visiting in person on several occasions, travelling specially from the United States, which is rare and reflects the major importance of Visteon Tunisia within Visteon’s global system, especially as it is the group’s only centre in the Middle East and Africa region.

This direct interest on the part of senior management was not purely formal, but coincided with an unprecedented expansion in the volume of the company’s investments and activities in the country. Visteon management’s admiration for Tunisian skills, the calibre of its engineers and their ability to develop intelligent automotive software and cutting-edge technologies prompted the group to accelerate the pace of its investments since 2024 to exceed $100 million.

This expansion has resulted in the launch of an automotive software engineering centre, which currently employs nearly 200 Tunisian engineers, with a clear plan to gradually increase this number to 500 engineers over the next few years. At the same time, Visteon has expanded its factory in Tunisia to cover an area of nearly 20,000 square metres, with an estimated investment of around $85 million, to become the first factory in Africa to use cutting-edge technologies in the manufacture of smart automotive components.

CEO Sachin has led Visteon Corporation since 2015 and has transformed it into a global leader in smart cockpit technologies and software-based vehicles. The company employs approximately 10,000 people worldwide and operates in 17 countries across more than 40 sites and work centres, making its presence in Tunisia an important part of its international network of engineering, manufacturing and innovation in the smart car sector.

The Swedish group « Autoliv », which specialises in the manufacture of steering wheels and road safety equipment, announced last Friday that it would be setting up a new factory in Tunisia.

“Using the latest Industry 4.0 technologies, this factory will become the first and only facility of its kind in Africa, specialising in the manufacture of steering wheels using clean energy and magnesium, thus representing a model green factory.”

In Tunisia, the Autoliv Group already has two production sites, in Fahs and Nadhour, in the governorate of Zaghouan, employing more than 4,500 people.

With a presence in 28 countries across 64 production sites, the Swedish group Autoliv employs more than 56,000 people and generates profits in excess of $900 million. It produces around 7 million steering wheels per year, 4 million of which are manufactured in Tunisia and entirely destined for major brands in European markets.

The automotive components sector, which accounts for 4% of GDP, comprises around 300 industrial companies and provides more than 120,000 jobs, with added value of 40% and a growth rate of around 12%. Its exports exceeded €2.2 billion at the end of 2024.

Source: media

On Tuesday 2 December, South Korean company Yura Corporation announced the start of construction work on its fifth production unit in Kairouan, central Tunisia. Specialising in the manufacture of cables and electrical harnesses for the automotive industry, Yura Corporation is thus strengthening its presence in Tunisia, which began in 2007.

The new production site covers an area of 4 hectares, representing an investment of 50 million dinars, and will increase the company’s employment capacity to 6000 people.

Yura Corporation is a South Korean company specialising in the manufacture of cables and electrical components for the automotive industry. It supplies several major manufacturers, including Hyundai, Kia and Mercedes. The company has subsidiaries in 15 countries, including Tunisia.

Source: media

International investment in Tunisia reached 2,588.7 million Tunisian dinars (MTND) at the end of the first nine months of 2025, representing an increase of 28.1% compared to 2024, 39.7% compared to 2023 and 58.1% compared to 2022.
With 2,536.0 MTND mobilised and 11,554 new jobs created, job-creating foreign direct investment (FDI) stands out as the driving force behind this increase. Despite a 56.8% increase, portfolio investment reached only 52.7 MTND for the same period. By sector, the distribution of FDI is as follows:
– Industry: 63.6% of FDI (1,613.0 MTND)
– Energy: 19.5% (493.5 MTND)
– Services: 14.4% (366.3 MTND)
– Agriculture: 2.5% (63.1 MTND)

With 639.9 MTND (31.3% of FDI excluding energy), France confirms its status as the leading foreign investor in Tunisia, followed by Germany (294.0 MTND), Italy (242.4 MTND), the Netherlands (153.7 MTND) and the United States (108.2 MTND).

Attracting 63.6% of new FDI, the industrial sector remains the main recipient of FDI, particularly in the electrical, electronic, mechanical, textile and agri-food sectors.

During a working meeting with the Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy, Ms Fatma Thabet Chiboub, on Monday in Tunis, Eiichi Ukai, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Japanese group NTN Corporation, a world leader in the manufacture of automotive components, presented his group’s investment programme in Tunisia, where he plans to launch his first industrial project in Africa, dedicated to the production of automotive components.
Considered one of the best companies in terms of innovation and production, NTN has also secured fourth place in the global bearing market.
Founded in 1918, NTN Corporation specialises in the manufacture of shock absorbers, transmission joints and precision equipment for the automotive industry. The group has more than 207 sites in 33 countries across America, Asia and Europe, and employs approximately 22,000 people.

On Monday 8 September, Chinese group JETTY Automotive Technology Co. LTD inaugurated an 8,000 m² site in Borj Cédria, a suburb of the capital Tunis, for the production of cables for Volvo and Cherry car manufacturers. This is the group’s first international location, creating 800 jobs by 2026.
Founded in 2010 in Changchun High-tech Zone, JETTY Automotive Technology is a recognised global player in automotive technologies, with over 1,000 patents in high value-added areas such as battery cables for electric vehicles, charging cables and aluminium wires.

This new project consolidates Tunisia’s status as a major player in the global automotive industry, thanks in particular to:
• A skilled and adaptable workforce
• A strategic geographical location
• A favourable regulatory environment
• Dedicated institutional support

L’Agence Investir en Tunisie, FIPA – Tunisie, salue cette nouvelle implantation qui confirme la position de la Tunisie en tant que plateforme industrielle compétitive en Méditerranée.