Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF has announced plans to develop an exclusive cluster for automotive manufacturing activities within the King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC).

The new King Salman Automotive Cluster will be a major centre for the automotive sector and will have headquarters and factories for local and international companies, said the PIF.

 Notable automotive companies include Ceer, the first Saudi electric car brand, and Lucid Motors, which opened its first international factory in KAEC in 2023.  It will also host several PIF joint projects with global manufacturers, including Hyundai Motor – establishing a highly automated factory for manufacturing cars in Saudi Arabia – and a joint venture agreement with Pirelli to set up a tyre factory locally, it stated.