Lucid Signs Deal for Saudi EV Plant, First Outside the U.S.

(Bloomberg) -- Luxury electric vehicle maker Lucid Group Inc. signed a deal to open a manufacturing plant in Saudi Arabia's west coast, the company's first site outside the U.S.

Lucid signed a $30 million lease agreement with Emaar Economic City for an industrial plot in King Abdullah Economic City outside Jeddah, according to a statement. The 25-year lease will allow Lucid “to construct and operate automotive manufacturing and assembly facility together with all ancillary services,” Emaar Economic said.

Chairman Andrew Liveris, who is also a board member at Saudi oil giant Aramco, told Bloomberg TV in January that Lucid would build an electric vehicle factory in Saudi Arabia by 2026. The company, which makes the $169,000 Air sedan, counts the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund as one of its largest investors with a stake of about 62%. 

Lucid and the Public Investment Fund, as the Saudi wealth fund is known, were in talks about building an autos plant at the King Abdullah Economic City, people familiar told Bloomberg last year. The plans are part of a government project to turn the site on the west coast into a hub for car-makers, as it looks to develop non-oil industries and diversify its economy.

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