DOHA: The first Saudi-made car - Ghazal - is expected to enter the country's market by the end of 2013 or the beginning of 2014, a popular Arab business portal has reported.
Engineers at King Saud University (KSU) built the Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), which was designed specifically for the Gulf climate, over two years ago.
The car, which is a Mercedes-Benz G class-based SUV, was first exhibited at the 80th Geneva International Motor Show in Switzerland in March.
Two Italian automotive firms helped in the design and manufacture of the vehicle.
KSU has set up a company for commercial manufacture of the car.
The vehicle is designed for the desert climate of Gulf countries and was produced "in collaboration with several major companies, including Motorola, Mercedes-Benz and Magna Canada," Arab News quoted Said Darwish, an industrial engineering professor at KSU, as saying.
Saudis contributed "90 percent of the design of the Ghazal 1 and 60 percent of its fabrication," the report said.
"Contacts are ongoing with Saudi investors for the mass production of the Ghazal 1," he said, adding that he hoped the project would be completed within two to three years.
"This is a national strategic product and KSU holds its patent rights and intellectual property rights," university president Abdullah Al Othman said, also quoted in Arab News. The project for the car, which is named after the Arabic word for deer, would require a $500m investment, according to unofficial estimates.
© The Peninsula 2011
