The first cohort of trainees from Saudi Arabia’s National Automotive and Vehicles Academy (NAVA) has graduated at Lucid‘s AMP-2 plant in King Abdullah Economic City, according to a LinkedIn post by Abdullah Murshid, who said he had interviewed the trainees when they joined.
“Proud to celebrate the graduation of the first NAVA cohort at Lucid Motors AMP-2!” the senior people HR business partner wrote on Monday.
“I had the opportunity to meet and interview them at the very beginning, follow their progress throughout the program, and finally witness them reach this important milestone,” he wrote.
Murshid did not say how many trainees graduated, which program they completed or whether all of them will join Lucid.
The graduates join a plant whose first fully built vehicle, the Cosmos midsize crossover, is now due to start production in the second half of 2027, later than Lucid’s original target of late 2026.
The SUV has been spotted road testing in California multiple times in the last few months.
The Academy
NAVA was established in 2024 through a partnership with the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Lucid’s majority shareholder, and is based in King Abdullah Economic City, north of Jeddah.
Lucid and Saudi carmaker Ceer are its employment partners, alongside supporting partners including the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation and the Human Resources Development Fund, according to NAVA.
Lucid also has a seat on NAVA’s board, held by Faisal Sultan, Lucid’s President of Middle East.
NAVA says its EV diplomas lead to a conditional employment contract with a partner such as Lucid or Ceer, at a starting salary of 8,000 riyals ($2,100) a month.
Training is free, taught in English and open only to Saudi nationals aged 18 to 25, with housing provided on campus.
The academy met more than 500 shortlisted students from across the Kingdom for final interviews and assessments for its first cohort in September 2024, according to its website.
It welcomed that cohort on October 1 to 3, 2024, and held its official launch on October 20, 2024.
Its EV Industrial Technician Diploma runs for up to two years, with specializations including press shop, body shop, paint shop and general assembly.
NAVA is led by Managing Director Mohammed Alsuhaim and chaired by Jerry Todd, Head of National Development at the PIF.
The UK’s Institute of the Motor Industry approved NAVA as an accredited center in February, during the PIF Private Sector Forum in Riyadh.
Lucid’s Agreements
Lucid signed a memorandum of understanding with NAVA at the PIF Private Sector Forum in February 2025 to design training programs in electric vehicle technologies and manufacturing.
The two expanded that cooperation at the same forum in February 2026 with an agreement covering three training programs for “more than 300 local talents,” without naming the programs.
NAVA signed similar memorandums with Ceer and Hyundai at the 2025 forum, and agreed with Ceer in November 2025 on a diploma to train 300 Saudis in automotive manufacturing.
Hyundai’s Saudi joint venture, 70% owned by the Public Investment Fund, plans to start production in the same industrial cluster in the fourth quarter of this year, at a plant with capacity for up to 50,000 vehicles a year, the partners said at its groundbreaking in May 2025.
BYD‘s Saudi distributor, Al-Futtaim BYD KSA, signed a training partnership with NAVA in February covering electric vehicle technologies and aftersales service, extending the academy beyond the cluster’s carmakers.
Lucid has added other training partners in the Kingdom.
It signed with the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation in July 2025, months before a fleet management deal with Elm.
The Plant
Lucid began final assembly of the Air at AMP-2 in 2023, from kits shipped from its factory in Arizona.
Sultan wrote in April that construction of the plant’s complete-build factory was on track to finish by the end of 2026, and that it is designed to scale to about 150,000 vehicles a year.
He named NAVA and the Human Resources Development Fund as training partners, and said AMP-2 is creating “thousands of jobs.”
Sultan said in December that Saudis make up 70% of Lucid’s workforce in Riyadh and King Abdullah Economic City, according to Arab News, citing an interview with Al-Eqtisadiah.
Lucid plans to build the Cosmos at AMP-2 first, and had targeted the start of its production for late 2026.
Chief Executive Officer Silvio Napoli said on the company’s second-quarter earnings call in August that AMP-2 would be “ready for production in early 2027” and “ready to run midsize production in the second half of the year,” pushing the Cosmos start into the second half of 2027.
Napoli described the Cosmos as “the first vehicle produced at” the new factory and “the first model from our midsize platform.”
Napoli launched an operational reset alongside the second-quarter results, targeting $1.4 billion in cash-flow improvements this year from inventory, capital spending and operating costs.
Lucid has not said how many of the NAVA graduates it will employ at AMP-2 or when they will start.
Earlier on Tuesday, Lucid and the Saudi Logistics Academy agreed to train Saudis for logistics and supply-chain roles at AMP-2 through a 12-month associate diploma backed by the Human Resources Development Fund, starting in October.
