 was previously a major investor in Elon Musk's electric car company Tesla, but sold down nearly all of its multibillion-dollar stake in 2019. The PIF and Mr Musk had a private falling out over the Tesla billionaire's failed effort to buy out the electric car company in 2018. According to text messages revealed as part of a US court case, Mr Musk accused the head of the PIF of 'throwing me under the bus' after it got cold feet during his efforts to take the company private at $420 per share. The text messages also revealed the desire of Saudi officials to build a Tesla factory in the kingdom, which failed to materialise. Saudi Arabia has since invested heavily in rival electric vehicle companies, including pumping $1bn into Lucid Motors. Lucid is building a factory in the country. Under the Crown Prince, Saudi Arabia has taken on a series of ambitious infrastructure and technology projects to diversify its economy from its status as a petrostate. His proposals include a $500bn megacity called Neom, which will include a 110-mile long city called The Line, as part of Saudi Arabia's "Vision 2030" programme. Ceer will be a joint venture between the PIF and Foxconn, which assembles Apple's iPhones. The Taiwanese company is aiming to build half of the world's electric cars and has revealed its own prototype electric vehicles. Foxconn's factories in mainland China have come under strain by Beijing's strict zero-Covid measures. Chinese workers were filmed climbing){kind=link}
Oil-rich kingdom announces joint venture with Taiwan’s Foxconn
The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has launched an electric car company in an effort to take on Tesla and supercharge the kingdom’s automotive sector.
Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, unveiled plans for Ceer, the country’s first electric car company.
A joint venture between the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund and Taiwanese technology company Foxconn, the new company will use technology licensed from Germany’s BMW and sell cars across the Middle East.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) was previously a major investor in Elon Musk’s electric car company Tesla, but sold down nearly all of its multibillion-dollar stake in 2019.