Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund said on Thursday it will make electric cars in the kingdom under a joint venture with Apple supplier Foxconn as part of a push to build new industries and lessen dependence on oil.
Ceer "is the first Saudi automotive brand to produce electric vehicles in Saudi Arabia, and will design, manufacture and sell a range of vehicles for consumers in Saudi Arabia and the Mena (Middle East and North Africa) region, including sedans and sports utility vehicles," the Public Investment Fund (PIF) said in a statement.
PIF said its cars would be available in 2025, adding Ceer would draw more than $150m (about R2.7bn) in foreign direct investment, create up to 30,000 direct and indirect jobs and is projected to contribute $8bn (roughly R146,593,600) to the kingdom's GDP by 2034.
The joint venture "will licence component technology from BMW for use in the vehicle development process", PIF said.
"Foxconn will develop the electrical architecture of the vehicles, resulting in a portfolio of products that will lead in the areas of infotainment, connectivity and autonomous driving technologies."
An investment strategy announced last year aims for more than $100bn (roughly R1,832,585,000,000) in FDI annually and Saudi Arabia lags behind those targets, with just over $4bn (roughly R73,303,400,000) in inflows in the first half of this year.
Chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, PIF is his chosen vehicle to drive efforts to diversify the economy and wean it off oil.
Lucid Group, which is more than 60% owned by PIF, is building an electric vehicle assembly plant in Jeddah with an eventual capacity to manufacture 150,000 vehicles a year. The Saudi government signed a deal with Lucid to buy up to 100,000 of its cars over the next 10 years. A Lucid spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment.
The kingdom is also making a push into mining and said in May it would build an electric vehicle battery metals plant
."We will leverage Foxconn's technological expertise to support Ceer's vision of creating a range of iconic electric vehicles that are built around the themes of connectivity, infotainment and autonomy," said Foxconn chair Young Liu said, according to PIF's statement.
"We want to make electric vehicles mainstream, and that is what Ceer is going to achieve in Saudi Arabia and the wider region," he added.
PIF did not disclose funding details and did not say how much a Ceer plant would cost or where in the kingdom it would be built. A PIF spokesperson could not be reached for further comment.
The Wall Street Journal reported in March that Saudi Arabia and Foxconn were in talks to jointly build a $9bn (roughly R73,303,400,000) facility that could make microchips, electric vehicle components and other electronics in NEOM, a futuristic $500bn (roughly R9,162,600,000,000) city being built in Saudi Arabia's desert
Saudi wealth fund sets up joint electric car venture with Foxconn
Image: askarimullin / 123rf
Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund said on Thursday it will make electric cars in the kingdom under a joint venture with Apple supplier Foxconn as part of a push to build new industries and lessen dependence on oil.
Ceer "is the first Saudi automotive brand to produce electric vehicles in Saudi Arabia, and will design, manufacture and sell a range of vehicles for consumers in Saudi Arabia and the Mena (Middle East and North Africa) region, including sedans and sports utility vehicles," the Public Investment Fund (PIF) said in a statement.
PIF said its cars would be available in 2025, adding Ceer would draw more than $150m (about R2.7bn) in foreign direct investment, create up to 30,000 direct and indirect jobs and is projected to contribute $8bn (roughly R146,593,600) to the kingdom's GDP by 2034.
The joint venture "will licence component technology from BMW for use in the vehicle development process", PIF said.
"Foxconn will develop the electrical architecture of the vehicles, resulting in a portfolio of products that will lead in the areas of infotainment, connectivity and autonomous driving technologies."
An investment strategy announced last year aims for more than $100bn (roughly R1,832,585,000,000) in FDI annually and Saudi Arabia lags behind those targets, with just over $4bn (roughly R73,303,400,000) in inflows in the first half of this year.
Chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, PIF is his chosen vehicle to drive efforts to diversify the economy and wean it off oil.
Lucid Group, which is more than 60% owned by PIF, is building an electric vehicle assembly plant in Jeddah with an eventual capacity to manufacture 150,000 vehicles a year. The Saudi government signed a deal with Lucid to buy up to 100,000 of its cars over the next 10 years. A Lucid spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment.
The kingdom is also making a push into mining and said in May it would build an electric vehicle battery metals plant
."We will leverage Foxconn's technological expertise to support Ceer's vision of creating a range of iconic electric vehicles that are built around the themes of connectivity, infotainment and autonomy," said Foxconn chair Young Liu said, according to PIF's statement.
"We want to make electric vehicles mainstream, and that is what Ceer is going to achieve in Saudi Arabia and the wider region," he added.
PIF did not disclose funding details and did not say how much a Ceer plant would cost or where in the kingdom it would be built. A PIF spokesperson could not be reached for further comment.
The Wall Street Journal reported in March that Saudi Arabia and Foxconn were in talks to jointly build a $9bn (roughly R73,303,400,000) facility that could make microchips, electric vehicle components and other electronics in NEOM, a futuristic $500bn (roughly R9,162,600,000,000) city being built in Saudi Arabia's desert
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