Hyundai will produce cars in Saudi Arabia
- The Korean carmaker Hyundai has announced that it will produce cars in Saudi Arabia. This will be its first plant in the Middle East. This announcement follows by a few weeks the announcement made by the American brand Lucid of its plant opening in Saudi Arabia. This announcement by a second carmaker to produce cars in this country is part of a vast overall plan by the Saudi government to diversify the country's industry, which is today mainly based on the oil industry. This overall plan is financed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the Saudi sovereign fund. Saudi Arabia aims to assemble 300,000 cars of all brands per year from 2030.
- Lucid has declared that it wants to produce 5,000 battery electric vehicles per year in SKD (Semi Knocked Down) in the Jeddah region, on the banks of the Red Sea, and then 150,000 units in 2030. Hyundai wants to produce 50,000 thermal and battery electric vehicles each year, probably in CKD (Complete Knocked Down) or SKD (Semi Knocked Down).
- PIF will hold a 70% stake in the new joint venture that will assemble the Hyundai models, with the Korean carmaker holding the remaining 30%. The plant enabling this production will be built in 2024-2025 and will begin operations in 2026. The precise location of the plant has not yet been revealed, nor the models that will be assembled there.
- Remember that the Saudi automobile market represented 650,000 vehicles in 2022, compared to 580,000 in 2021 and 470,000 in 2020. Hyundai occupies on average 20% of this market each year, or 130,000 units in 2022.