New Saudi electric vehicle (EV) maker Ceer has appointed a chief executive, the company said in a statement Thursday.
James DeLuca will lead the Kingdom’s electric vehicle brand, which was announced to launch earlier this month.
DeLuca worked with General Motors for nearly 40 years, rising through the ranks to become executive vice president of global manufacturing, managing more than 200,000 employees in 31 countries.
He also led Vietnamese automaker VinFast as its first CEO, helping establish the electric vehicle maker after it was founded in 2017.
“I look forward to building Ceer into an automotive brand that is admired by both Saudi consumers and the industry as a whole,” DeLuca said.
“Ceer will help energize the Saudi automotive sector and create synergies of scale that the automotive industry will benefit from as more automotive manufacturing moves to the Middle East to mainstream electric vehicles in the country and across the region within the meaning wide.”
Ceer is a joint venture between the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn.
The company plans to design, manufacture and sell a range of vehicles for consumers in Saudi Arabia and the MENA region, including sedans and sport utility vehicles.
Every car must be designed and built in Saudi Arabia, which could significantly boost the country’s domestic manufacturing sector.
The Saudi Press Agency reported that Ceer intends to attract more than $150 million in foreign direct investment to the Kingdom, create up to 30,000 direct and indirect jobs and contribute $8 billion. to Saudi Arabia’s GDP by 2034.
It aims to start selling electric vehicles by 2025
