Posted on 04 Jan 2023
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources has signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea's Hyundai Motor Company to advance the automotive industry in the country to enhance its non-oil economy and local manufacturing. The agreement came about a month and a half after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited South Korea in mid-November following the G-20 Heads of State and Government Summit in Bali, Indonesia, Kallanish notes.
Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Al-Khorayef and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice President Kim Seon-seob were among the attendees at the signing ceremony.
Hyundai will build a Saudi Arabia-based assembly plant, also known as a -completely knocked down plant- for electric cars and internal combustion engine cars, according to a tweet posted by the Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources seen by Kallanish. The details of the investment and location in Saudi Arabia have not been provided.
“The deal aims at achieving the national strategic goals to develop local manufacturing capabilities in Saudi Arabia", it says
Hyundai has an important market share in Saudi Arabia, and light car sales are expected to increase in the Kingdom after the country repealed its ban on women drivers in 2018.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources announced an investment plan for an electric vehicle (EV) battery plant of $2 billion. The Ministry is planning to fund nine mining projects totalling $32 billion. The government has previously announced that at least 30% of the cars in the capital, Riyadh, will be electric by 2030
US electric vehicle carmaker Lucid Group will build an EV car-making facility in Saudi Arabia, and Taiwan's Foxconn, in a joint venture with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), launched Ceer, the first Saudi electric vehicle brand to produce electric vehicles in Saudi Arabia.
India's Essar will invest in flat steel production in Saudi Arabia to cater to domestic and regional demand, supplying a wide range from ultra-thin to thick gauges for various downstream industries, including automotive. The company will invest SAR 15 billion ($4 billion) into 4 million tonnes/year of continuous casting and hot strip capacity, 1m t/y of cold rolled coil capacity, and a tin plate line in Ras Al Khair Industrial City on Saudi Arabia’s east coast (see Kallanish passim).
Source:Kallanish
