Saudi Arabia has introduced Ceer Motors, its first domestically developed electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, positioning it to compete directly with U.S. rival Lucid. Ceer, which is majority-owned by the sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF), unveiled two new electric models—the Exobot Sedan and SUV—on September 21, with the company anticipating deliveries starting in March 2027.
Ceer Motors: A Strategic Initiative
The vehicles were designed and engineered within Saudi Arabia and will be manufactured at Ceer’s facility located in King Abdullah Economic City, north of Jeddah. This marks the PIF’s third significant investment in the EV sector. Previously, the fund acquired an approximate 5% stake in Tesla in 2018, which was nearly entirely liquidated by the end of 2019. Furthermore, the PIF has committed roughly $8 billion toward Lucid, a company based in California that has not yet achieved profitability.
Ceer, a partnership between PIF and Taiwanese electronics company Foxconn, was established in November 2022. Although the company initially aimed for its first cars by 2025, its CEO, James DeLuca, recently announced that production is slated to begin early next year. The company plans to introduce additional models over the next five years and aims to achieve local sourcing of nearly half of its vehicle components by 2034.
Navigating the EV Competition
Ceer’s debut creates an unusual competitive dynamic: Saudi Arabia is launching its own brand while its primary sovereign wealth fund maintains a large ownership stake in Lucid, whose main manufacturing plant is situated in Arizona.
Automobility founder and CEO, Bill Russo, noted that Lucid is an established global luxury EV company in which Saudi Arabia has made substantial investments. Conversely, he explained that Ceer has a distinct mission: establishing a domestic Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and, crucially, fostering a localized industrial ecosystem.
The Exobot sedan and SUV are positioned as high-performance premium EVs, matching the segment where Lucid markets its Air luxury sedan and Gravity SUV. DeLuca stated that the most potent versions of the Exobot are expected to produce over 1,100 horsepower, which is close to the 1,234 horsepower generated by Lucid’s fastest model, the Air Sapphire sedan. Pricing details for Ceer have not yet been released.
BYD and Lucid serve very different segments, so comparing their volumes directly can be misleading.
The rivalry is intensified by market performance. Lucid’s shares have seen a decline exceeding 60% this year. Meanwhile, the Saudi market is highly competitive, with BYD, a Chinese automaker, becoming the world’s top EV producer in 2023 and competing aggressively with Tesla for market share. In the first seven months of 2026, Lucid experienced a 57% drop in sales in Saudi Arabia, whereas BYD’s sales increased by 369%. This disparity is partly attributed to price, according to Hashim AlFatayerji, CEO of the independent Saudi advisory firm Cararak.
Strategic Ambitions and Export Focus
Despite the market slump, the PIF continues its support for Lucid. The carmaker remains one of only five U.S. firms listed in the fund’s latest quarterly holdings filing, and the Saudi government has committed to purchasing up to 100,000 Lucid vehicles over a ten-year period.
Estimates suggest that while Saudis purchase nearly one million new vehicles annually, between 10,000 and 20,000 are electric vehicles, according to AlFatayerji. Joseph Salem, a senior partner at Arthur D. Little, suggests that the number of EVs in 2025 could range from 35,000 to 40,000, excluding plug-in hybrids.
Ceer’s factory is designed with a capacity of up to 240,000 vehicles per year, significantly exceeding the current domestic demand. Salem noted that even combined, the full-capacity targets of the manufacturers are vastly higher than what the domestic market can realistically absorb in the near term. Consequently, he anticipates that the majority of production output, perhaps over 80%, will be destined for export.
60% of the electric cars sold in the Middle East are from China’s BYD.
Salem emphasized that the core strategy for Saudi Arabia is regional export, aiming to build an automotive industry capable of supplying the Gulf, North Africa, and surrounding areas. He stated that the domestic market should be viewed as a proving ground, not the ultimate destination for the vehicles.
Globally, the challenge is significant. According to the International Energy Agency’s Global EV Outlook, BYD accounts for approximately 60% of electric car sales in the Middle East, and Tesla accounts for about 15%. Russo pointed out that Chinese automakers pose a formidable challenge, having spent years building massive factories and supply chain relationships, allowing them to sell vehicles cheaply and expanding abroad because they can produce more cars than China’s domestic market can consume.
To succeed, Ceer must establish strong partnerships, relying on suppliers such as Rimac of Croatia for motors, Hyundai Transys of South Korea, and Foxconn of Taiwan for its platform, alongside licensed component technology from BMW. Salem concluded that to appeal both locally and internationally, Ceer must match BYD’s pricing model using local materials and state-backed financing. Furthermore, it needs a service and dealership network comparable to BYD’s, and cars that possess inherent appeal beyond their Saudi origin. While Russo noted that Ceer possesses significant capital and governmental backing to attempt this ambitious goal, it does not remove the fundamental competitive hurdles.
