IN DRIVE

PIF-owned CEER inks $2 billion deal with Hyundai in step toward EV production

South Korean parts supplier to supply the drive systems for cars to be assembled in the kingdom

A Lucid Sapphire electric model car at the Geneva International Motor Show. (Photo: Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is continuing its dogged drive to create an electric vehicle market in the kingdom.

The sovereign wealth fund’s EV-maker CEER announced on Tuesday a $2.2 billion deal with Hyundai Transys for the South Korean parts supplier to make the drive systems for its cars, set to be unveiled by next year.

Drive systems are responsible for converting the energy from an EV’s battery into mechanical power to move the wheels. 

The decade-long supply deal is set to start in 2027, when CEER aims to drive the first of its SUVs, sedans and coupes off the assembly line.

CEER, the two-year-old joint venture between the PIF and Taiwan’s Foxconn, is not Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s only play into electrification as he looks to grow the share of EVs in the kingdom to 30% by 2030 – up from 1% right now. 

In addition to setting up CEER in 2022, the kingdom has invested at least $6.4 billion in California luxury EV maker Lucid Motors, which it majority owns, and has built an EV metals plant.

In October, the PIF and Hyundai announced a $500 million joint venture to build a factory for internal combustion engines and EVs, creating a planned factory hub alongside CEER and Lucid in Jeddah’s King Abdullah Economic City.