06 Nov 2022; MEMO: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) has on Thursday launched the kingdom's first electric vehicle brand, named Ceer. It is hoped the announcement will attract over $150 million in investment and lead to the creation of up to 30,000 jobs.
The company "will contribute to Saudi Arabia's efforts towards carbon emissions reduction and driving sustainability to address the impact of climate change," the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said. Ceer is a result of a joint venture between the kingdom's Public Investment Fund (PFI) and Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn who are known for producing iPhones.
"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 economic growth in line with Vision 2030," MbS said.
Chairman of Foxconn Young Liu, said: "Foxconn is excited about our partnership with PIF to create a new automotive company that will focus on designing and manufacturing electric vehicles in and for Saudi Arabia… We want to make electric vehicles mainstream, and that is what Ceer is going to achieve in Saudi Arabia and the wider region."
The vehicles are expected to be available in 2025 and the company is projected to contribute $8 billion to Saudi's GDP by 2034.
The move comes days after Turkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan inaugurated a manufacturing plant in Turkiye, which will build the country's first domestic car and electric vehicle brand, named Togg.
