Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has launched the country's first EV brand, Saudi news agency SPA said on Thursday.
The new brand of EVs, Ceer, a JV between Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Hon Hai Precision (Foxconn) is expected to add $8 billion to the country's GDP by 2034, and is expected to bring in $150 million in foreign direct investment.
Headquartered in Taiwan, Foxconn provides electronic manufacturing services for computers, communications, and consumer electronic products-it is the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, with revenues of $215 billion last year.
The PIF is Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund-one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world.
The EV JV from PIF is in line with the SWF's 2021-2025 strategy to tap into "promising sectors locally" to aid in diversifying the country's economy away from relying almost solely on crude oil.
The PIF announced plans in late October to invest $24 billion in Middle Eastern and North African countries, including Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Iraq, and Sudan in the areas of infrastructure, health care, real estate, and telecom.
"Saudi Arabia is not just building a new automotive brand, we are igniting a new industry and an ecosystem that attracts international and local investments, creates job opportunities for local talent, enables the private sector, and contributes to increasing Saudi Arabia's GDP over the next decade, as part of PIF's strategy to drive the economic growth in line with Vision 2030," HRH said.
Ceer will design, manufacture, and sell a range of EVs for the local market as well as the broader MENA region. Its lineup will include SUVs as well. The vehicles will be completely designed and manufactured within Saudi Arabia.
The vehicles will be available starting in 2025.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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