Saudi Arabia’s new Exobot EVs make the Cybertruck look normal — SkimNews

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- Ceer unveiled two angular EV models — the Exobot sedan and SUV — with Saudi sales targeted for 2027 and five additional models planned by 2030.
- Ceer is a joint venture between Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) sovereign wealth fund and Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn, best known for assembling Apple's iPhone.
- Rob Melville, McLaren's former design director, designed the Exobots, but Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had final say on the design per Autocar.
- Jim DeLuca, who spent 37 years at General Motors and ended as executive VP for global manufacturing, is Ceer's CEO, telling Reuters: "We wanted to make sure the world could see what Saudi Arabia is capable of."
- Ceer's lineup won't be all-electric — the company plans hybrid and combustion-engine models depending on market demand.
- Saudi Arabia's automotive track record is mixed — a proposed Jaguar-Land Rover factory never materialized over a decade ago, Toyota declined a 2019 deal, and PIF-controlled Lucid Motors is still struggling despite building a factory in King Abdullah Economic City.
Why it matters: Ceer is Saudi Arabia's most ambitious automotive bet yet, combining sovereign-wealth funding with Foxconn's manufacturing scale and a poached GM manufacturing chief to jump-start a domestic auto industry that has spurned every previous suitor. With five more models planned by 2030 and Crown Prince MBS personally approving the designs, the kingdom is treating car manufacturing as a post-oil prestige project rather than a purely commercial one.
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