Riyadh, Saudi Arabia–French car maker Renault signed a deal with Aramco and China’s Geely Automobile Holdings in which the Saudi oil producer would become a potential minority stakeholder in a new powertrain technology company, the companies said in a joint statement on Thursday.
Geely and Renault are expected to retain equal equity stakes in the new independent entity, the statement said, adding that the new company will be dedicated to internal combustion and hybrid powertrain technologies.
Also read: Aramco signs 100 pacts at iktva forum, launches digital company
In January, news reports said that the car makers were working to finalize a deal to join with Aramco to develop and supply gasoline engines and hybrid technologies, citing three people with knowledge of the talks.
The new company would have an annual production capacity of more than 5 million internal combustion, hybrid and plug-in hybrid engines and transmissions per year, the companies said.
In January this year, Aramco signed more than 100 agreements and memorandums of understanding valued at around $7.2 billion to help advance an industrial ecosystem.
The agreements were signed with Zoom, Taulia Inc, DHL, Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia, Accenture, Hassana Investment Company and Achilles among others.
The iktva program has achieved 63 percent local content in 2022, up from 35 percent in 2015, when iktva was launched.