Hyundai and Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) have signed a joint venture agreement to build a new “highly automated vehicle manufacturing plant in Saudi Arabia”, producing 50,000 vehicles per year. Even though Hyundai and PIF plan to build EVs at the new plant, they will also make ICE vehicles.
The PIF will own 70% of the new joint venture, with Hyundai holding the remaining 30%, and together they are expected to invest over $500 million in the project. Construction is slated to begin in 2024, with production planned for 2026. Hyundai intends to act as a strategic tech partner to support the new plant.
Hyundai intends to act as a strategic tech partner to support the new plant
Hyundai is the second automaker to disclose plans to build a manufacturing plant in Saudi Arabia behind Lucid, which opened the first EV manufacturing plant in the Kingdom in September 2023. Lucid’s second plant globally has already begun semi-knocked down (SKD) assembly. It is expected to produce 5,000 Air EVs annually in the first phase, with this rising to approximately 150,000 annual EV capacity when the project is completed.