Transport Saudi homegrown Ceer to produce first EVs in 2026 By Neil Halligan February 13, 2025, 5:04 PM Wam Ceer signed 11 deals worth SAR5.5 billion ($1.4 billion) at PIF Public Sector Forum, 80% of which involved Saudi businesses Launch scheduled for Q4 next year $3bn worth of deals signed New plant to create 30,000 jobs Ceer, Saudi Arabia’s first electric vehicle manufacturer, plans to roll the first vehicle off its production line in late 2026, the company’s CEO Jim DeLuca said. It signed 11 deals worth SAR5.5 billion ($1.4 billion) at the Public Investment Fund (PIF) Public Sector Forum in Riyadh, 80 percent of which involved Saudi businesses. This is on top of partnerships worth more than SAR6.6 billion ($1.7 billion) already signed with more than 250 local companies, DeLuca told Arabic daily Al Eqtisadiah. Ceer is a joint venture between PIF – Saudi Arabia’s $950 billion sovereign wealth fund – and Taiwanese contract electronics maker Foxconn, with BMW as the component technology provider in the vehicle development process. In June 2024 Ceer signed a SAR8.2 billion contract with South Korea’s Hyundai Transys for the supply of EV drive systems, which will significantly reduce size and weight while enhancing power efficiency. Ceer plans to launch two vehicles initially – an SUV and a compact or small family-style car. It plans to launch a larger saloon and executive vehicle at a later date. Ceer gets licence to build EV production facility in Saudi Arabia Tesla to enter Saudi Arabia within months EVs and air taxis will shake up Mena insurance industry Both vehicles will be unveiled in Q4 this year, with deliveries to start 12 months later from its $1.3 billion King Abdullah Economic City manufacturing plant. The plant is expected to be able to produce 240,000 vehicles a year when it reaches full capacity. “Over the next decade we will attract more than $150 million in foreign direct investment, create up to 30,000 direct and indirect jobs, localise 45 percent of our product content or built material and contribute $8 billion directly to Saudi’s GDP by 2034,” DeLuca told the forum. DeLuca said the project is fully funded through to 2034 but there is potential to list some of the company’s shares on the stock market.
