Startup American EV manufacturer Canoo announced Wednesday morning, Jan. 25, it has signed an exclusive agreement with GCC Olayan to sell, service and distribute its EV fleet solutions in Saudi Arabia.
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Canoo and GCC Olayan will also be working to develop a joint venture to launch a digital vehicle ecosystem for service maintenance repair, local assembly and eventually manufacturing, according to Canoo.
“It has been an honor to work with the Olayan group companies over many years. Our agreement to bring Canoo’s award-winning vehicles to the region is grounded in our mutual commitment to customer service. The Olayan Group is a global business leader with decades of experience in distribution partnerships with some of the world’s leading brands and they are a proven partner to support EVs in the region,” said Canoo Tony Aquila, Chairman & CEO in a news release.
No financial details of the agreement were announced.
“Through our diverse operating companies including GCC Olayan, we have introduced many leading international brands, products and services in Saudi Arabia,” said Uwaidh K. Al-Harethi, CEO of Olayan Saudi Holding Company (OSHCO).
Saudi Arabia has pledged to achieve net zero emissions by 2060 via its Saudi Green Initiative. “With that in mind, we are pleased to sign the product and service distribution agreement with Canoo and are proud to be the exclusive distributor of its electric vehicles in our market. The new partnership will combine GCC Olayan’s over 75 years of experience in the automotive and adjacent sectors with Canoo’s innovative electric vehicle technology to cater to this need in the market and contribute to global efforts to tackle carbon emissions as well as to Saudi Vision 2030’s sustainability goals,” Al-Harethi concluded.
Canoo did not announce specifics such as when its first EVs would be delivered to Saudi Arabia or whether any signed fleet orders in the Kingdom had already been obtained.
Canoo has completed some low-volume production of its first EVs via its third-party manufacturer Roush, according to a Tuesday, Jan. 24 post on Canoo’s Facebook page where the company wrote: “A huge thank you to the team at Roush. We couldn’t have done this without you. Electric vehicle goals for Detroit met! Packing up and off to Oklahoma to set up our facilities.”
Canoo announced in November it had entered into an agreement to acquire a vehicle manufacturing facility in Oklahoma City. The plant is an existing commercial site with more than 630,000 square feet of move-in ready space.
“We expect to achieve a 20,000 unit run rate capacity in 2023, doubling that capacity in 2024,” said Canoo CEO Tony Aquila during Canoo’s 2022 3rd quarter earnings call.
Canoo has designed a modular electric platform with interior space that is highly customizable. So far Canoo has shown off fleet delivery vehicles, a minivan with wrap around seating and a pickup truck based on the platform, in addition to a larger delivery van. Canoo counts Walmart among the companies that have already placed orders for its EVs.
Editorial Disclosure: The author of this post is a Canoo stockholder.