Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, Nov. 4 (Xinhua)-- the Saudi sovereign wealth fund will work with Foxconn Technology Group to produce electric cars, one of the industrial sectors that Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed hopes to diversify the Saudi economy away from oil dependence.

CTOnews.com learned that they would form a joint venture with Foxconn Technology Group and start a brand of electric vehicles called Ceer. The brand will be licensed by BMW for parts technology to make cars. Foxconn will use infotainment, connectivity and self-driving technology to develop in-vehicle electronic devices, the two sides said in a joint statement.

The two sides said Ceer would develop cars and SUV for the mass market, with the goal of first delivery in 2025.

The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), chaired by Crown Prince Mohamed Mohammed bin Salman, announced on Thursday that it would form a joint venture with Foxconn, an Apple supplier, to build electric cars in Saudi Arabia.

Ceer, the first Saudi car brand to produce electric cars in Saudi Arabia, will design, manufacture and sell a range of cars, including sedans and sport utility vehicles, to consumers in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East and North Africa.

PIF said its cars would go on sale in 2025 and said Ceer would attract more than $150 million of foreign direct investment, create up to 30,000 direct and indirect jobs and is expected to contribute $8 billion to GDP to Saudi Arabia by 2034.

PIF said in a statement that the joint venture "will obtain technical licenses for components from BMW and use them in the car development process". "Foxconn will develop the electrical architecture of these cars, and the resulting range of products will be a leader in infotainment, connectivity and self-driving technology."

"We will use Foxconn's technical expertise to support Ceer's vision of building a series of iconic electric vehicles around the themes of connectivity, infotainment and self-driving," Liu Yongkang, Foxconn chairman, said in a statement from PIF.

He added: "We want to make electric vehicles mainstream, which is what Ceer will achieve in Saudi Arabia and the wider region."

PIF did not disclose details of the funding, did not say how much the Ceer plant would cost, or where it would be built in the Kingdom. CTOnews.com will bring you more reports in the future.

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