Luxury electric car maker Lucid Group has opened its first international factory in Saudi Arabia, home of its largest shareholder. The factory, located in Jeddah, will have an initial production capacity of 5,000 Lucid models per year, according to the company. Lucid said it plans to expand the plant's production capacity to 150,000 vehicles. Workers at the facility will initially reassemble Lucid Air vehicle kits that are pre-manufactured at the company's U.S. factory in Casa Grande, Arizona.
Lucid aims to convert the Saudi Arabian factory into a complete main production site after the middle of this century.
The factory opened a year after the Saudi Arabian government said it would buy 100,000 of the automaker's electric vehicles over the next decade. The Saudi Arabian government is linked to the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which owns 60% of Lucid.
The Saudi Arabian government has initially committed to purchase 50,000 Lucid electric vehicles, with an option to purchase an additional 50,000 over the same 10 years. The commitment includes the launch of the Lucid Air luxury sedan in 2021 as well as future models such as the upcoming Gravity SUV.
The electric vehicle sales agreement is part of the kingdom's Vision 2030 plan, which aims to diversify the economy away from dependence on fossil fuels.