ADDED inks deal with Valeo to boost Abu Dhabi’s automotive sector

The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) has partnered with global automotive supplier Valeo to advance the automotive sector and build electric and self-driving car components in the emirate.

Valeo plans to explore new areas of development by integrating its advanced technologies and its sustainability vision in green cities. The partnership between ADDED and Valeo aims to strengthen the industrial solutions development community as well as cooperate with the local startup electric vehicle companies.

The agreement to design and build electric and self-driving car components is expected to enhance smart and sustainable mobility in Abu Dhabi and contribute to the development of the city’s transport sector.

“This cooperation to develop smart mobility and set up a technology hub for electric, autonomous car components in Abu Dhabi is in line with our initiatives to ensure that growth, sustainability, and advanced technologies go hand in hand in all aspects of our socio-economic development,” said Arafat Al Yafei, executive director of ADDED’s Industrial Development Bureau.

The transport industry is one of the subsectors targeted by the Abu Dhabi Industrial Strategy and its initiatives include Industry 4.0’s innovative technologies to drive the emirate’s transition towards a smart, circular and sustainable economy.

Abu Dhabi’s smart mobility strategy

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi build an electric vehicle assembly facility that will manufacture thousands of cars a year from its industrial zone and brought in smart electric firm NWTN as it looks to become an auto hub.

In September 2022, Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi said it will construct a 25,000 square metre facility that will be operated by NWTN for the manufacturing, research and development, and vehicle testing of electric vehicles

Under the agreement, NWTN’s operations initially will have an annual capacity of 5,000 to 10,0000 units of semi-knocked-down electric vehicles, a process where the manufacturer partially strips down a vehicle at the origin and reassembles it in another country.

Abu Dhab’s smart digitalisation strategy aims to develop an effective and sustainable transport sector that utilises modern technology to better serve the community by increasing efficiency in the transport system and supporting the transition to smart autonomous vehicles, which are both eco-friendly and sustainable.

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