Lucid Group has officially opened its first overseas factory in Saudi Arabia, the Advanced Manufacturing Plant (AMP-2) located in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), 80 miles north of Jeddah.
AMP-2 is Saudi Arabia's first-ever car manufacturing plant and the EV maker's second vehicle assembly plant after the main AMP-1 factory in Casa Grande, Arizona.
The new facility has begun semi knocked-down (SKD) assembly of Lucid Air electric sedans using vehicle kits that are pre-manufactured at the Arizona facility. The site is expected to have an annual capacity of 5,000 vehicles in the first phase, which consists exclusively of re-assembling Lucid Air vehicle kits.
Lucid aims to transition AMP-2 to complete build unit (CBU) production after the middle of the decade, with an additional annual capacity of 150,000 cars. In the future, the complete manufacturing facility, including the assembly facility, is expected to have an annual capacity of 155,000 EVs. AMP-2 will produce Lucid EVs for Saudi Arabia and export to other markets.
"We are delighted to make history today in Saudi Arabia by opening the country's first car manufacturing facility, which will produce our award-winning electric vehicles and support the country's vision for a more sustainable and diversified economy," said Peter Rawlinson, CEO and CTO, Lucid Group. "We look forward to delivering Saudi-assembled cars to customers in Saudi Arabia and beyond."
Lucid says AMP-2 will be a driving force for innovation and job creation, promoting home-grown Saudi talent and providing expert skill development training. The company expects to employ hundreds of Saudi nationals in the first few years and eventually grow the workforce into the thousands.
The factory's strategic location near Jeddah and on the Red Sea coast is also expected to facilitate the growth and expansion of Saudi Arabia's supply chain, creating demand for local suppliers and generating long-term growth. The facility already offers robust supply chain access by land and sea, which will enable Lucid to export its luxury electric vehicles to other regions in the future.
Lucid's new plant will also help the company fulfill the agreement with the government of Saudi Arabia to purchase up to 100,000 vehicles over a ten-year period – 50,000 initially and the option to purchase up to an additional 50,000.
During the factory inauguration event, the company also delivered Lucid Airs to a select group of customers. Lucid Air deliveries in Saudi Arabia started in June.
The Saudi Arabian government through its Public Investment Fund (PIF) is Lucid Group's majority stakeholder with 60.5 percent of shares. The country's sovereign wealth fund increased its stake in Lucid recently through an equity offering that brought the EV startup a total of $3 billion – $1.8 billion of which came from PIF affiliate Ayar Third Investment Company.
