Ceer revealed its first two production cars this week, the Exobot sedan and SUV, marking the debut of Saudi Arabia’s first national car brand. Both are wedge-shaped EVs with no B-pillar and gullwing doors, backed by the Public Investment Fund and Foxconn, and it’s the BMW connection that’s drawn attention outside the region. That connection is a technology license, not a supply deal for the drivetrain.

BMW signed the agreement when Ceer launched in November 2022, and CEO James DeLuca has credited BMW’s “100-and-some years of experience” for helping the company’s engineering and manufacturing operation get off the ground. The motors come from elsewhere. Rimac Technology builds the rear electric drive unit, under a contract signed at Rimac’s Croatian headquarters in October 2024, the Gulf’s first customer for the company. Hyundai Transys supplies the front motors, and Foxconn provides the platform and electrical architecture it also uses for its own Foxtron EVs.

No B-Pillar, Gullwing Doors, And A 48-Inch Display

Both Exobots skip a B-pillar, and the gullwing doors are large enough that DeLuca has called each one “more like a whole body side,” though they still open within a normal door’s footprint. Ceer says the glass roof is the largest fitted to any current production car, and the windshield carries a silver coating to reflect heat, a sensible spec for a market where summer temperatures pass 40 degrees Celsius. Steer-by-wire replaces the mechanical column, and surface exciters stand in for regular speakers.

The interior’s centerpiece is a 48-inch display that runs from A-pillar to A-pillar along the base of the windshield. Ceer calls it the Digital Horizon Display, and anyone who’s sat in a Neue Klasse BMW will recognize the idea, if not the scale: it’s a taller, more vertical version of BMW’s own Panoramic Vision Display. But it’s unclear whether it’s the same supplier providing the tech. The exterior lighting has its own reference built in, with light bars made from 32 segments, a nod to 1932, the year Saudi Arabia was unified. Rob Melville, who spent 13 years at McLaren and signed off on the P1, 720S, Senna, and Artura before joining Ceer, designed both cars.

Three electric motors power both First Edition cars, putting out a combined 850 PS (838 hp) and 1,000 Nm (738 lb-ft) of torque. The sedan hits 100 km/h in 2.6 seconds from a standstill; the SUV needs three tenths longer, which still keeps it under the 3-second mark. Ceer isn’t claiming a range record here, but the 112-kWh battery is good for up to 670 km (416 miles) NEDC. Both cars run an 800-volt architecture, and DC charging tops out at 250 kW, enough to add meaningful range in a short stop.

The SUV measures 5,016 mm long, 2,101 mm wide, and 1,693 mm tall on a 3,200 mm wheelbase. The sedan is 5,260 mm long, 2,102 mm wide, and 1,428 mm tall, sharing the SUV’s wheelbase. Both will launch in a Limited Launch Edition alongside a fully customizable Plus model. Ceer still hasn’t said what either will cost.

Deliveries Now Start In 2027

Ceer promised customer cars for 2025 when Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the brand in November 2022. Production at King Abdullah Economic City is now set for January 2027, with deliveries starting in March. Both Exobots are homologated for Gulf markets only, and Ceer has five more models planned: a D-segment saloon, SUV, and coupe-SUV in 2027, followed by compact cars in 2028.

The company is aiming for 2,300 employees, 46 percent of them Saudi nationals, 45 percent local content by 2034, and an $8 billion contribution to GDP with 30,000 jobs by the same year. The same fund backing those targets has been quietly scaling back Neom and pulled its money from LIV Golf, and the nearest comparison for how that plays out sits in the same industrial park: PIF-backed Lucid opened its plant in King Abdullah Economic City in September 2023 and built 18,378 cars in all of 2025.

[Photos: Ceer Motors]

 

First published by https://www.bmwblog.com