Lucid Group signed agreements to establish its first factory outside the United States in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the US-based EV maker announced on Wednesday.
The manufacturing facility will be able to produce 155,000 electric vehicles a year, and will initially serve the local market. The vehicles will later be exported to global markets.
These agreements are expected to provide financing and incentives to Lucid totaling $3.4 billion over the next 15 years to build and operate a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in the Saudi Arabia for electric vehicles.
Lucid reviewed multiple opportunities before selecting KAEC in Saudi Arabia, an area known for its livability and sustainability, as the optimal location for the second of its global network of electric vehicle manufacturing facilities. Lucid also officially designated the new Saudi Arabian plant “AMP-2” (Advanced Manufacturing Plant #2), indicating its position as the next cornerstone of Lucid’s vertically integrated global production network.
The factory is situated in KAEC’s ‘Industrial Valley,’ close to King Abdullah Port along the main Red Sea trading corridor, an area which has handled more than a third of Saudi Arabia’s Western Region container volumes. Lucid’s Middle East regional headquarters in Riyadh has been operational since last year.
At AMP-2, Lucid plans to establish operations initially for re-assembly of Lucid Air vehicle “kits” that are pre-manufactured at the company’s U.S. AMP-1 facility in Casa Grande, Arizona, and, over time, for production of complete vehicles. Lucid expects construction of the plant to commence shortly, and at its peak, Lucid expects to manufacture up to 155,000 vehicles per year at the facility. Vehicles will be initially slated for the Saudi Arabian market, but Lucid plans to export finished vehicles to other global markets. In addition, Middle East regional deliveries of the Lucid Air are expected to begin later this year, supported from the Casa Grande factory.
In April 2022, the Ministry of Finance of the Government of Saudi Arabia entered into an agreement with Lucid to purchase at least 50,000 and potentially up to 100,000 Lucid vehicles over a ten-year period. The order quantity for the committed volume is expected to range from 1,000 to 2,000 vehicles annually and increase to between 4,000 and 7,000 vehicles annually by 2025. The purchase price of the vehicles will be based on Lucid’s standard retail prices as previously disclosed. This commitment supports the government’s drive to diversify the economy, provide thousands of local highly skilled job opportunities, and provide economic benefits to Saudi Arabia in line with Saudi Vision 2030.
