RIYADH: The Saudi National Automotive Manufacturing Co., or SNAM, will produce 10,000 cars by 2023, CEO Fahad Al-Duhaish said in an interview.
Also president of the Kingdom's first carmaker, Al-Duhaish confirmed laying the foundation stone for the first car assembly plant in Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia.
The assembly plant along with the testing area will reach 120,000 square meters, he told Al Arabiya.
The production capacity of the plant is set to hit 30,000 cars annually, he said.
This target capacity is anticipated to be achieved within two or three years.
The first production quantities — ranging between 5,000 and 10,000 — are expected to start in the second half of 2023, Al-Duhaish added.
He continued that this initial phase will cost around SR300 million ($79.95 million) and is expected to generate 700 direct jobs.
This comes in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 objective of localizing knowledge-based and multi-content industries such as cars that have a high return on the national economy, the Saudi Press agency reported.
