Hyundai to consider EV assembly plant in Saudi Arabia

Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea’s top automaker, plans to consider building an assembly plant for electric vehicles and internal combustion engine cars in Saudi Arabia, its first facility in the Middle East, the kingdom said on Saturday.

The Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, and Hyundai signed a memorandum of understanding to advance automotive production. The company is set to mull a plant in Saudi Arabia to assemble completely knocked-down forms, kits of entirely unassembled parts of vehicles manufactured in South Korea, and make finished automobiles in the kingdom.

Hyundai and the ministry are poised to seek joint investments for the facility.

“The deal aims at achieving the national strategic goals to develop local manufacturing capabilities in Saudi Arabia,” the ministry said on its Twitter.

NEW GROWTH ENGINES

The kingdom is investing in new industries such as the EV and battery sectors to diversify its economic growth engines.

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman in November last year met Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun to discuss the group’s eco-friendly vehicle development and urban air mobility projects. Hyundai Motor Co., the group’s leading carmaker, currently has overseas factories in the US, China, India, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Turkey and Russia.

Last year, Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund set up an EV joint venture, Ceer, with Foxconn, with a target to launch electric sedans and sport utility vehicles by 2025.

As part of the Public Investment Fund’s strategy to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economic growth by investing in promising growth industries, Ceer aims to attract over $150 million of foreign direct investment and create up to 30,000 direct and indirect jobs.

The JV is projected to directly contribute $8 billion to the kingdom’s gross domestic product by 2034.

Write to Han-Gyeol Seon and Hyung-Kyu Kim at always@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.