CEER unveils first EVs, Gulf rollout set for 2028

CEER sits inside a longer attempt to build an automotive industry in Saudi Arabia after earlier efforts faltered; Jaguar Land Rover walked away from a manufacturing facility more than a decade ago, and Toyota left talks in 2019. The government then shifted strategy, and the Public Investment Fund — which controls CEER in a partnership with Foxconn — invested in Lucid in 2018, bringing the US EV maker to build the first auto plant in the country. That plant became the anchor for a wider supplier cluster that now includes Hyundai and companies such as Italy's Pirelli, the US's Lear, Korea's Shin Young, Germany's Benteler, and China's Fangxin, with Stellantis studying its own facility.

The launch arrives while many of the fund's other large projects face budget cutbacks and a new emphasis on raising outside capital to limit state funding, alongside an aim to instill financial discipline and a more commercial mindset. DeLuca said CEER's funding from PIF is unchanged and that the seven-product plan was developed and funded in 2023, though he declined to say how much has been invested or when profitability is expected. PIF is also working on deals to bring in more suppliers, which would lift local content in CEER cars from around 18% to 45% by 2034.

The outcome is likely to hinge on execution against Chinese EV brands that have been rapidly gaining share in the region — a challenge made sharper by the Exobot's November-sale delay from Iran war supply chain disruptions. The test for CEER and its backer is whether the supplier build-out and local-content targets arrive on schedule.