The Saudi Industry Forum 2026 continued its second day at Jeddah Superdome under the theme «Innovation for Industrial Sustainability», with a session titled «Localizing the Automotive Industry: A Gateway to Detailed Manufacturing in the Kingdom» examining how vehicle production can anchor a broader domestic supply base. The discussion framed detailed manufacturing, which covers vehicles, machinery, equipment and discrete products, as a distinct track from process industries, and argued that expanding it offers a viable route to widening the Kingdom's industrial base while drawing on the output of its conversion industries to create higher-value products.
Participants placed supply chains at the center of localization efforts, noting that sector growth depends on assembling a network of local suppliers able to meet manufacturers' requirements and localize components, alongside regulatory, financing and logistics frameworks suited to the nature of these industries. The session also traced the path from innovation to commercial production, addressing the challenges of scaling, manufacturing engineering, supply chains and capacity building, and cited a technology that began as research at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) to address dust accumulation on solar panels before moving gradually into commercial application and projects inside and outside the Kingdom.
The discussion highlighted how manufacturing methods and supply chains tied to the automotive sector can feed other industries and technologies, including linear generators used in data centers, electric vehicle charging and industrial power. According to the session, the emerging manufacturing ecosystem and supply chains in the Kingdom create room to build new production capacity at larger volumes and competitive costs, strengthening the Kingdom's position in attracting industries aimed at local and global markets.
The session stressed the need for sustained demand to draw suppliers and investors into the automotive industry, and pointed to government enablers, legislation, incentives and investment partnerships. It noted that Ceer has signed agreements with 16 suppliers and factories in the Kingdom worth a total of about SR3.5 billion to supply parts and components supporting the automotive manufacturing ecosystem, while underscoring opportunities for entrepreneurs and industrial establishments to localize component production and turn shortages of certain materials and parts into industrial and investment openings that reinforce local content and the competitiveness of national products.