Saudi Arabia has made its first steps towards a domestic car industry with the launch of the EXOBOT, a sedan and SUV, unveiled by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and announced by CEER.
The vehicles were revealed on Monday in a launch led by the Crown Prince, who is also chairman of the Public Investment Fund. It’s the first big car unveiling for CEER since the Saudi electric-vehicle company was founded in 2022.
The EXOBOT models are the first of seven planned vehicles that CEER hopes to release in the next five years. The range will later feature compact and midsize cars with various propulsion systems, the company says.
CEER is a creation of the Public Investment Fund and Taiwan-based Foxconn. BMW will be supplying component technology to the company’s vehicle development, while Foxconn will be building the electrical architecture that will be used throughout the vehicles.
The new cars are being designed and engineered in Saudi Arabia and will be produced locally. CEER’s manufacturing complex is being constructed in King Abdullah Economic City and will have separate sections for pressing, body assembly, painting and final assembly, logistics and testing.
The manufacturing project is valued at about 5 billion Saudi riyals. The proposed site area is over 1 million square metres, of which approximately 530,000 square metres is for covered facilities.
CEER’s previous target was to produce approximately 170,000 vehicles annually. The company is part of Saudi Arabia’s wider Vision 2030 plans to diversify the economy and grow manufacturing.
According to the company, the EXOBOT sedan and SUV are inspired by the Saudi Arabia landscape and culture. CEER has pitched them as tech-driven cars, but hasn’t published complete details like battery size, range, performance or final pricing for the two models.
CEER’s economic aspirations are not limited to vehicle manufacturing. By 2034, the company could contribute over $8 billion to Saudi Arabia’s GDP and over $21 billion to the improvement of the country’s trade balance, in addition to direct and indirect employment, PIF projects.
The project also aims to create a broader automotive supply chain in the Kingdom. Saudi authorities have touted CEER as a mechanism for investment, local manufacturing and engineering, and job creation for Saudi nationals and private sector firms.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has been making significant investments in electric vehicles and advanced manufacturing. The Kingdom has been promoting itself as a manufacturing and technology hub for the Middle East and North Africa region, and has been successful in attracting international automotive investment, in addition to CEER.
The EXOBOT unveiling is more than just the unveiling of two new electric vehicles, though. It is a telling indicator of Saudi Arabia’s ability to transform its investment in automotive manufacturing into a viable domestic industry that can manufacture vehicles in volume.
