A newly launched automotive investment firm in Qatar has announced plans to set up an automotive cluster in the Gulf state by 2020, the Peninsula has reported. The new company, Qatar Automotive Gateway (Qatar Ag), expects its automotive cluster has chosen a number of automotive sub-segments to develop including the design and manufacture of Lithium Ion batteries and components and automotive aluminium components - die castings, forgings, and extrusions.
Qatar Automotive Gateway (Qatar Ag), a newly launched automotive investment company, targets the establishment of an automotive cluster in Qatar by 2020, officials said during the company’s launch yesterday.
“Qatar Ag’s objective is to establish a fully operational automotive cluster by 2020, while leveraging Qatar’s resources and financial and operational synergies across Qatar projects,” said Ghanim bin Saad Al Saad, Chairman, Qatar Ag.
The automotive cluster is expected to generate thousands of technical and management jobs in Qatar, thus supporting the knowledge based economic vision of Qatar which will deliver high returns for future generations, according to Ahmed M Sorour, Chief Executive Office, Qatar Ag.
Al Saad said Qatar is an ideal and competitive location for the industry with its fast growing infrastructure, low energy costs, financial investments and attractive business environment and that Qatar Ag has started executing its strategy having already chosen a number of automotive sub-segments to develop.
“One of the opportunity areas is in the design and manufacture of Lithium Ion batteries and components. As the demand for electric and hybrid vehicles ramps up, and xEVs become a standard product offering, it is expected to create a new value chain worth approximately $250bn by 2020, of which more than $65bn will be for Lithium Ion batteries and components, grow from today’s demand at a dramatic 65 percent growth rate,” explained Sorour.
Another area is automotive Aluminium components – die castings, forgings, and extrusions –where the global market is expected to grow significantly from $38bn in 2010 to $73bn by 2020.
Due to the increasing use of Aluminium components experts see a significant shortage of global capacity by 2016, creating an opportunity for Qatar Ag to produce hi-quality automotive aluminium components while leveraging Qatalum’s significant aluminium capacity and capabilities.
“We took the initiative to start Qatar Ag after two years of research and analysis, during which we sought inputs from executives from the global auto industry, industrial companies in Qatar, and global financial, industry, and technical experts. We confirmed that the auto industry offers multiple industrial investment opportunities, including the manufacture of components in Qatar,” said Al Saad.
The vast opportunities in the automotive industry is being driven by its dramatic shift and restructuring globally such as on the technical side where hybrid and electric vehicles are now being adopted for their fuel efficiency and environment friendliness opening up a huge market for vehicle components such as Lithium-Ion batteries.
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