‎Saudi Arabia in talks with car makers for West Coast hub: Alkhorayef

‎Saudi Arabia in talks with car makers for West Coast hub: Alkhorayef

Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef

Saudi Arabia is in talks with auto manufacturers to establish a presence in the West Coast of the Kingdom, Bloomberg reported, citing Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef.

There are a “couple of projects” underway for automakers to establish manufacturing presence in Saudi Arabia, the minister said, indicating that King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) was chosen as a location for these projects

In September 2021, US-based Lucid Motors applied to the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) to get a model approval certificate, stated Saud Al-Askar, Deputy Governor at SASO. 

Lucid Motors will launch its electric vehicles (EV) in the Kingdom by 2024. The production line will get a model approval certificate when all technical requirements are fulfilled. 

The Public Investment Fund (PIF) owns 67% of Lucid Motors, which was listed on Nasdaq last July at a total investment value of $1.3 billion (SAR 4.9 billion), according to data available on Argaam.