PIF’s Ceer awards $1.3bn contract for EV factory in Saudi Arabia

Ceer, an electric vehicle firm backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has awarded a $1.3bn (SAR5bn) contract for the construction of a manufacturing site in King Abdullah Economic City.

The electric carmaker awarded the contract to Saudi Arabia’s Modern Building Leaders (MBL) to build a production facility, spanning more than one million square meters.

The plant will have dedicated zones for every stage of vehicle production, including a press shop, body shop, paint shop, and general assembly.

The complex will also feature dedicated zones for logistics, waste management, warehouses, offices, a water treatment system and a vehicle test track.

“We are delighted to witness the realisation of our vision to ignite Saudi Arabia’s mobility industry, beginning with the construction of the Ceer Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Complex,” said Jim DeLuca, the CEO of Ceer.

DeLuca said the facility will feature the best technologies and equipment in partnerships with global players including Siemens, ABB, Schuler Group and Dürr.

Ceer, a joint venture with Taiwan’s Foxconn, will design, manufacture and sell a range of vehicles, including sedans and sports utility vehicles, for consumers in Saudi Arabia and the MENA region.

Ceer advances Saudi EV ambitions

Meanwhile, PIF-backed Lucid Group inaugurated the first-ever car production facility in the Saudi port city of Jeddah last September.

The facility is located in King Abdullah Economic City and is the company’s first international plant. It will also produce vehicles for consumers in Saudi Arabia as well as other markets.

The production facility will assemble the luxury electric sedan Lucid Air, with an initial capacity to produce 5,000 units a year. The site will be scaled up to reach an annual capacity of 150,000 cars.

Lucid projected that the location of its first international manufacturing plant in Saudi Arabia may add up to $3.4bn in market value over 15 years.

PIF, which owns just above 60 per cent of Lucid, invested $1.8bn in the luxury EV maker in May 2023 as part of a private stock offering.

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