Saudi Arabia eyes local assembly of Russian luxury cars Aurus

Saudi Arabia has announced its interest in establishing assembly lines for the Russian luxury automobile brand Aurus within the kingdom’s borders.

Bandar Alkhorayef, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, highlighted the kingdom’s ambition to expand its domestic automotive production as part of a broader industrial strategy, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media.

“We welcome any manufacturers who want to come. We will produce more than 300,000 cars — about 40% of the market. Therefore, we welcome any brand that comes, establishes production, and localises it,” the minister said in response to a question about the prospects of Aurus assembly in the country.

According to the minister, the development of the automotive industry is very important for Saudi Arabia.

“It is part of our industrial strategy, and I am pleased to report that we have managed to transform from the largest importing country with no local production into a country with four plants under construction,” Alkhorayef noted.