The US electric car manufacturer Lucid Motors intends to build its first factory in Saudi Arabia by 2025 or 2026 and it’s turning all its attention to details that are now being negotiated with Kingdom’s ministries.
Lucid Chairman Andrew Liveris said that they’re now working out specifics, including the ownership percentages for Lucid, whose largest shareholder is Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), and partners on the project.
People familiar with the matter have said that Lucid, which makes the $169,000 Air sedan, has been in talks with PIF to build an EV plant potentially near the Red Sea city of Jeddah – at the King Abdullah Economic City- and that much of the money will be provided by the $360 billion Fund, which has held a 67% stake in Lucid Motors since April 2019, when it has invested $1 billion into Lucid.
They’re allegedly also considering a possible site in the new city being developed in Saudi Arabia’s northwest – Neom.
Liveris’ statement is the first time that Lucid – which is ramping up the battle for dominance in the fledgling sector in the Middle East- representative has confirmed rumors about building a factory in Saudi Arabia that has been circulating since late September 2021.
Lucid Motors’ announcement at the time was mentioning 2024 as a possible construction year and the information was only confirmed by the deputy governor of the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organisation, Saud Al-Askar, who noted that the paperwork on the deal is being finalized.
On top of that, PIF has offered at the time a six-month internship program that Saudi graduates can apply for at Lucid Motors’ US offices in California, Newark, and Arizona commencing in January.
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