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| Lucid Air Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg |
Lucid Motors Inc. is in talks with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund to build an electric vehicle factory potentially near the Red Sea city of Jeddah, according to people familiar with the matter.
The move would mark a significant expansion for Newark, California-based Lucid. Saudi Arabia is trying to become a Middle Eastern hub for manufacturing EVs as it diversifies its economy from oil.
The $360 billion Public Investment Fund, already a shareholder in Lucid, will provide much of the money for the site at the King Abdullah Economic City, the people said, asking not be named because the discussions are private. Plans are advanced but could change, the people said. PIF and Lucid have also considered Neom, a new city being developed in the northwest of Saudi Arabia, as a possible site for the plant.
Lucid is one of a several U.S. firms seeking to take on Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. The startup is targeting the luxury end of the EV market and its chief executive officer, Peter Rawlinson, was previously Tesla’s chief engineer on the Model S sedan.
The move would mark a significant expansion for Newark, California-based Lucid. Saudi Arabia is trying to become a Middle Eastern hub for manufacturing EVs as it diversifies its economy from oil.
The $360 billion Public Investment Fund, already a shareholder in Lucid, will provide much of the money for the site at the King Abdullah Economic City, the people said, asking not be named because the discussions are private. Plans are advanced but could change, the people said. PIF and Lucid have also considered Neom, a new city being developed in the northwest of Saudi Arabia, as a possible site for the plant.
Lucid is one of a several U.S. firms seeking to take on Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. The startup is targeting the luxury end of the EV market and its chief executive officer, Peter Rawlinson, was previously Tesla’s chief engineer on the Model S sedan.
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