- Saudi Arabia is engaged in early discussions with U.S. electric automaker Tesla to establish a manufacturing facility within the kingdom, as reported by the Wall Street Journal on Monday.
- The talks come within the Kingdom's current plans to build automobile infrastructure in the country and enhance local manufacturing, as the Public Investment Fund has been active in the field of electric cars for several years. Saudi Arabia's first investment in this sector was in 2018, when the fund invested in Lucid in 2018, and steadily purchased more shares until it owned a majority stake when the startup went public in 2021 through its merger with a special-purpose acquisition company.
Why it matters
Musk previously stated in May that Tesla would likely determine a location for a new factory by the end of 2023. Currently, Tesla operates six factories and is in the process of constructing a seventh one in northern Nuevo Leon state, Mexico. Furthermore, Tesla has set a target to achieve annual sales of 20 million vehicles by 2030, a significant increase from the approximately 1.3 million sold in 2022.
