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Gazal, Saudi Arabia First Car
Last June, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia gave the green light to run the KSU project to make the first car made in Arab countries, namely KSU Gazal-1. Now the effort is increasingly evident, namely the Saudi Arabian Government’s decision to build the factory with an initial investment of 500 million U.S. dollars. Project establishment of the factory will begin next year.
According to the source, this SUV is expected to be produced and marketed within two years. Furthermore, the plant will be built by one of South Korea’s automotive companies without mentioning his name. Just described, the leadership of King Saud University, Abdullah al-Othman, has just signed an agreement with one of the South Korean car company.
Informed similarly, investments to establish a joint venture factory is done, which is 15 percent of university investment institutions Wadi al Riyadh Technology and 30 percent of South Korean companies. The rest offered to the private investor. Othman said, in addition to targeting the domestic market, the vehicles are later exported to countries in North Africa.
Other information, a car that was first introduced to the public at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this March, was designed by Arab Saud University students who get help from Italian design studio.
Once he sees the appearance of the first prototype of the car that will be constrained Saudi Arabia, the analysts believe that the roof form is similar to the Toyota FJ Cruiser. However, it turns out that the chassis and engines will be supplied by Mercedes-Benz. Chassis and engine are similar to that used G-Class with different exterior. Even to the interior, a total new.
Mercedes-Benz has approved a supplier of chassis and engine (gasoline V8) used G-Class for Gazal-1. This car maker, KSU, will market this car because of the annual demand for these types of vehicles reached 20,000 units in Arabic. Furthermore, the SUV was later adapted to the climate and consumer demand for Saudi Arabia, which is a car with off-road capability but quite luxurious. That is because of the majority of hard-selling SUV in the country is the class of the Toyota Fortuner.