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Ceer Is Saudi Arabia's First Homegrown EV Brand, Will Use Licensed BMW Components

There is a new player in town, and nobody is safe. Saudi Arabia just confirmed that it is bent on becoming a place where electric vehicles (EVs) are being built from scratch. Taiwanese manufacturing expertise and German parts knowledge will be used. Ceer is the country’s attempt at creating a new path forward for mobility and local manufacturing.
BMW Vision Concept 7 photos
Photo: BMW
2009 BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept2009 BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept2009 BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept2009 BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept2009 BMW Vision EfficientDynamics ConceptCeer Logo
Just as the most important global markets are trying to deal with inflation, supply chain issues, parts sourcing problems, geopolitical affairs, and interest rate hikes, Saudi Arabia is launching a brand-new car company – Ceer. Its core purpose will be to manufacture all-electric vehicles in the Middle Eastern country.

With investments coming mainly from the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the country’s leader said at the event that Ceer will contribute to Saudi Arabia’s automotive dreams while also making sure decarbonization remains a priority. “We are igniting a new industry and an ecosystem that attracts international and local investments,” said the Crown Prince, who is also the prime minister and the Chairman of the PIF.

Ceer will not be represented by a factory only. The all-new EV brand will also have a design center. The officials estimate the brand will lead to the creation of almost 30,000 direct and indirect jobs. Saudi Arabia’s Ceer is a joint venture between the country’s wealthy Investment Fund and Foxconn. The Taiwanese entity will make sure manufacturing goes smoothly, while BMW will supply the blueprints for car parts needed for sedans and SUVs.

HRH Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz said Ceer will be the first automotive brand that will produce electric automobiles in the country, even though the American car brand Lucid confirmed it will build EVs in Saudi Arabia in a state-of-the-art factory. Lucid received a hefty investment from the same fund that is now used to launch Ceer.

Foxconn’s Chairman said they will aim at making EVs mainstream by focusing on connectivity, infotainment, and – as is expected from an up-and-coming environmentally conscious car company – autonomous driving.

First Ceer cars are expected to be available in 2025, even though there is currently no word about what vehicles are going to be available, what platform they will be built on, who will supply the batteries, or what type of powertrains we will see from Saudi Arabia. But the next three years might be filled with automotive news coming from the Arab world. The country’s top diplomats are already working with rich in cobalt and lithium Australia on establishing mining investment opportunities.

Surprisingly, the company's Twitter profile was created back in 2011.

Early reports last year said the partnership between Foxconn and Saudi Arabia will lead to the creation of a new company named Velocity. Back then, the available information pointed toward BMW as being the all-important provider of much-needed hardware and software. Things have changed. Now, the parties involved in this venture want Ceer to temporarily carry over some licensed parts from the German brand and intend to have the Saudi Arabian company pave its own way forward.

Saudi Arabia recently posted a budget surplus of around $3.7 billion for the third quarter of the current year after oil prices kept growing throughout 2022. Out of the $80 billion in total revenue for Q3 of 2022, almost $61 billion came from selling oil.

Finally, Saudi Arabia has high hopes for Ceer. It expects the brand to bring $8 billion to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2034.
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Editor's note: Gallery shows photos of a BMW concept car since Ceer has not provided us with any relevant images.

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About the author: Florin Amariei
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Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one.
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