Saudi Arabia Unites With Foxconn to Develop EVs

The latest step taken by Saudi Arabia to achieve its Vision 2030 aim of reducing its reliance on oil and diversifying its economy is the formation of a joint venture between its sovereign wealth fund and Foxconn, the massive Taiwanese manufacturing company that produces Apple's iPhones, to produce and sell electric vehicles. According to the statement made on Thursday, the new company, known as Ceer, will use BMW component technology to design, produce, and market a variety of EVs. Furthermore, Foxconn is developing the electrical architecture of the vehicles. According to Saudi Arabia, this will result in a "portfolio of products" in the fields of infotainment, connectivity, and autonomous driving technologies. In addition, the first EVs under the Ceer brand will likely hit the market in 2025. [caption id="attachment_58989" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] image credit: rprna[/caption] According to the Saudi Public Investment Fund, or PIF, the first EV brand in Saudi Arabia, Ceer, will bring in more than $150 million in foreign direct investment and generate up to 30,000 direct and indirect jobs. Moreover, FDI, or foreign direct investment, is a crucial component of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 strategy. For those unaware, the gulf nation unveiled a national investment strategy last year with the goal of achieving more than $100 billion in FDI yearly by 2030. PIF also claimed that the Ceer brand will likely contribute $8 billion to the kingdom's GDP by 2034 More details PIF has invested heavily in EVs and other clean technology on its own. Additionally, 2018 saw the PIF make a $1 billion investment in Lucid Motors, making it the company's largest shareholder. Also, the PIF, which owns 61% of Lucid, pledged to acquire 50,000 of the company's EVs in the spring of 2022, with an option to buy a further 50,000 over a ten-year period. [caption id="attachment_58990" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] image credit: yahoo[/caption] On another note, Foxconn has been advancing its presence in the automobile industry, particularly in relation to EVs. Lordstown Motors and Fisker have contracts with Foxconn to develop electric vehicles. Additionally, it collaborated with Taiwanese carmaker Yulon Group to create the Model C, an electric SUV. Lastly, Foxconn Chairman Liu Young-way stated that he hoped to emulate the company's success in creating consumer electronics by developing EVs for automakers in October at its third annual Hon Hai Tech Day event.