Lucid targets to start production in Saudi Arabia by 2023-end: exec

Faisal Sultan, Vice President & Managing Director of Lucid Middle East

Lucid is expected to commence production at its electric vehicles (EVs) factory in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) by the end of 2023, Faisal Sultan, Vice President and Managing Director of Lucid Middle East, said, noting that construction started last May.

Production will start with “Lucid Air” vehicles, which are initially pre-manufactured at the carmaker’s facility in Arizona, and then reassembled in Saudi Arabia, Sultan told Argaam on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Conference.

Lucid targets the full production of its first vehicle in Saudi Arabia by the end of 2025, when it will fully build its first car.

The carmaker is also planning to export vehicles to other GCC countries and worldwide.

Lucid produces cars at its factories in Mexico, China, Asia and other countries. It seeks to place the Saudi factory as a main supplier of other facilities with 30-50% of production. However, this depends on the number of suppliers that will start registration in the Kingdom.

Sultan added that EVs receive good support, which will in turn help local factories and Lucid.

The carmaker will also reveal later more showrooms in the Kingdom’s major cities and regionally in the next few years.

Elsewhere, Sultan said Lucid signed a five-year agreement with Human Resources Development Fund (Hadaf), at a total value of $50 million. It will contribute to training Saudis to work at Lucid’s facilities inside and outside the Kingdom. The agreement will also support human capital and empower Lucid to launch various programs and manage its sales activities across the Kingdom.

Lucid eyes localization of 50% of jobs. The Hadaf agreement will also help support and train Saudi talents.

On the other hand, Sultan said the supply chain crisis still poses “a big issue,” not only in the automotive market, but in all other sectors. Therefore, Lucid revised its car production targets.

He expected these disruptions to end soon, hopefully in 2023, as this will help Lucid manufacture more cars.

Lucid Group Inc., which is partly owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), announced on Oct. 24, opening its first Middle East studio in Riyadh, Argaam reported.

Last May, Lucid announced plans for a full production factory at KAEC in Saudi Arabia, expecting to manufacture up to 155,000 vehicles per year at the new facility.