Azernews.Az

by Alimat Aliyeva

Kia Corporation, South Korea's second-largest automaker, announced on Monday that it will begin testing its new purpose-built vehicle (PBV), the PV5, in Riyadh, with the goal of future deployment in a luxury resort town being developed as part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 Giga Project, Azernews reports, citing Yonhap agency.

The pilot program is being conducted in partnership with Red Sea Global (RSG), a key player in Saudi Arabia’s mega development initiatives aimed at diversifying the economy away from oil and fostering growth in tourism, technology, and sustainability.

Under the partnership, Kia will provide customized mobility solutions for RSG’s rapidly expanding tourism operations. The PV5—part of Kia’s growing PBV lineup—will be tested in various settings, including Red Sea resort facilities and the Red Sea International Airport. Based on the test results, Kia plans to develop a specialized PV5 cargo model and explore additional variants tailored to resort and airport operations.

This collaboration builds on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed in March 2024, in which Kia committed to supplying eco-friendly, next-generation mobility solutions for RSG’s projects along Saudi Arabia’s west coast. These include sustainable resorts, wellness tourism complexes, and green infrastructure developments aligned with Saudi Arabia’s bold Giga Project agenda, which also encompasses Neom, the futuristic smart city under construction in the northwest.

In addition to the PV5, Kia revealed that it is also considering the future deployment of its flagship PBV, the PV7, which is set for a global launch in 2027. The PV7 is expected to offer enhanced range, modular interiors, and advanced connectivity, making it a strong candidate for high-end tourism and smart city applications.

"In the mid- to long-term, Kia aims to integrate innovative smart city technologies—such as autonomous driving, robotics, and AI-powered mobility services—into RSG’s development zones," the company stated in a press release.

Kia’s PBVs are designed from the ground up for specific use cases—like cargo delivery, ride-sharing, or airport shuttles—representing a paradigm shift in automotive design, where vehicles are not just products, but part of a larger mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) ecosystem. The partnership with RSG could serve as a model for how automakers collaborate with smart city developers in the age of intelligent infrastructure.