A new carmaker is born
An oil-rich country expands diversification toward EVs
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Will your first Electric Vehicle (EVs) be made in Saudi Arabia? You’ve probably pumped gasoline made from Saudi oil into your car over the past couple decades. Now the Kingdom is moving more aggressively to diversify its economy by drilling deeper into the EV business.
Last week, the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund announced a deal to make, “a portfolio of electric vehicles that will lead in the areas of infotainment, connectivity and autonomous driving technologies.” The plan is to build sedans and SUVs by 2025 under the brand name Ceer.
Saudi Arabia's joint venture with Foxconn to design and build EVs. (Credit: Saudi Arabia PIF)
The Saudis say the vehicles will be designed and built in the Kingdom. But the business model being used will make this venture a bit different than legacy carmakers. The Saudis have struck a deal with the company that built your iPhone.
Taiwan-based Foxconn has made its intentions quite clear. The assembler of Apple’s iPhones wants to assemble EVs as well. It has purchased a former GM plant in Ohio for this type of work in the US and now it has this joint venture with Saudi Arabia.
In their statement, the Saudis and Foxconn say this a joint venture. They won’t build the entire vehicle. The Saudis say they, “will license component technology from BMW for use in the vehicle development process.”
Foxconn's prototype of its Model E unveiled a year ago. (Credit: Foxconn)
Making it all work together will be the Taiwanese company’s job. “Foxconn will develop the electrical architecture of the vehicles,” that will be assembled in Saudi Arabia for that market and the wider Middle East (I guess your first EV won’t come from Saudi Arabia).
The CEO of Foxconn, officially known as Hon Hai Technology Group, said, “We want to make electric vehicles mainstream, and that is what Ceer is going to achieve in Saudi Arabia and the wider region.”
The Saudi Kingdom and its Crown Prince continue to face criticism for the death of a Washington Post Columnist, refusal of President Biden’s request to maintain oil production, and, most recently, questions about tracking its own citizens abroad. Still, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman seems to be moving forward with his economic diversification plan.
(Credit: Twitter)
This is not Saudi Arabia’s first move into EVs. The country is the majority owner of Lucid Motors. Lucid is building a factory in Saudi Arabia that it says will produce 150,000 vehicles a year. The Saudi government will buy the product it is paying to produce. The government signed a deal to buy up to 100,000 of those vehicles.
Lucid says, “The new manufacturing hub will be fully owned by Lucid and enable the company to meet growing international demand for luxury electric vehicles.” As mentioned, the Saudis are the majority owners of Lucid, so it would seem the government will own the factory.
Artist rendering of a Lucid facility to be built in Saudi Arabia. (Credit: Saudi Arabia PIF)
This may not be the end of the Saudi move into EVs. Back in May the Investment Minister said there will likely be three EV factories in the Kingdom. Lucid is one. Foxconn is two. The minister gave no hint what might be the third venture. What’s clear is that the Saudis seem intent on building their own EVs.
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(Cover photo credit: Getty Images)