Saudi Arabia enters the EV world with radical Ceer Exobot

News

1,100bhp saloon and SUV to head up seven-car range as oil-rich nation bids to diversify

MA

Matt Allan

22 September 2026 · 3 min read

Saudi Arabia’s first homegrown car maker Ceer has revealed its first two cars, and they’re all electric.

The famously oil-rich and oil-dependent country has launched its assault on the automotive world with the Ceer Exobot – a twin-set of high-performance saloon and SUV due to go on sale in 2027.

The Exobot SUV and saloon will be built at a brand-new Ceer Manufacturing Complex in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia and, according to executives, form a key part of the nation’s attempts to diversify its industrial sector and economy.

Ceer was created in 2022 and is owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF as part of a joint project with Taiwanese consumer electronic giant Foxconn. The PIF also owns stakes in other car makers, including Aston Martin and Lucid.

Ceer Exobot performance

Sharing a platform, both models use an all-wheel-drive tri-motor powertrain boasting between 838bhp and 1,095bhp and up to 1,106lb ft of torque. The low-slung saloon can get from 0-62mph in just 2.1 seconds while the SUV takes a Porsche Cayenne Turbo-beating 2.4 seconds. The saloon tops out at 155mph, while the taller SUV is capped at 130mph.

Both models use a 112kWh battery, which in the saloon delivers a claimed 416 miles of range and up to 348 miles in the SUV.

The Ceer Exobot uses a steer-by-wire system in place of a traditional mechanical linkage, and the driver uses an F1-style yoke in place of a steering wheel. Along with active torque vectoring and active chassis systems, Ceer claims this delivers “an unmatched driving experience” with “track-like” agility.

Ceer Exobot design

The cars have been designed under oversight from former McLaren man Rob Melville and are said to call on Saudi Arabian architecture and heritage for inspiration. Both feature enormous gullwing-style doors inspired by the local Shahin falcon and come with transparent lower panels that can be darkened at the touch of a button. The wheels’ triangular motif is inspired by traditional architecture, while the distinctive full-width front light bars are made of 32 lights – a nod to 1932, when Saudi Arabia became a kingdom.

The 5.2-metre-long saloon features the longest windscreen of any car – at 2.4 metres – set at a radical 15-degrees for a futuristic look. The SUV has a similarly dramatic wedge shape with a sharp inward-angled rear end.

Inside, both cars feature a 48-inch pillar-to-pillar display array and what looks like a sensible blend of touchscreen and physical controls.

While the Ceer Exobot SUV and saloon are the first models from the brand, the company’s role is to make Saudi Arabia a major player in the automotive sphere, and five more models are planned between now and 2030, including mid-size and compact models with a variety of powertrains to suit customer demand.

There’s no indication of price or when the models will go on sale outside their home country, but don’t expect them to be cheap.