ABU DHABI -- Neta Auto, Hozon Auto's electric vehicle (EV) brand is to open an R&D center and assembly plant in Abu Dhabi's new Smart and Autonomous Vehicle Industry (SAVI) cluster.

Spearheaded by the Abu Dhabi Department for Economic Development (ADDED) and Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), the fully integrated cluster headquartered in Masdar City provides state-of-the-art facilities, value add services, and regulatory enablement to support the design, testing and manufacturing of autonomous vehicle applications.

Neta's facility in SAVI will serve as a hub for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and will be the third R&D facility for the company, following its Shanghai and Hong Kong centers. It will also provide regional back-office services including sales, marketing, importing and exporting, and aftermarket components.

Neta will be able to test its latest technologies at the testing zone in Yas Island. The island offers an established road mobility test bed with a growing number of incorporated technology startups.

Badr Al-Olama, acting director general of Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), said: "SAVI is proud to welcome Neta Auto to Abu Dhabi and we are excited to support the company in developing smart and autonomous vehicles on Yas Island, and becoming a beacon for others to follow in the EV and battery cell sectors."

Abu Dhabi is developing comprehensive multi-modal cluster designed to accelerate the deployment of smart and autonomous vehicles across air, land and sea. SAVI brings together all relevant stakeholders to advance value chain development, attract companies from all around the world, enable access to funding and investments, facilitate and fund innovation, streamline regulatory services, and fast track the adoption of future mobility solutions.