Tesla has announced an upcoming launch of its electric vehicles in Saudi Arabia with a launch event planned in April in Riyadh.
Tesla posted on its website an event called “Tesla Opening in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” planned for April 10.
The automaker wrote in the description:
You and your family are warmly invited to our launch event at the Bujairi Terrace on April 10.
Explore our global bestselling lineup and step into a world powered by solar energy, sustained by batteries, and driven by electric vehicles.
Experience the future of autonomous driving with Cybercab, and meet Optimus, our humanoid robot, as we showcase what’s next in AI and robotics.Our team will be on hand to answer any questions you have about Tesla ownership, home charging and more.
While Tesla has been selling vehicles in the Middle East for years, Saudi Arabia is a new market for the American automaker.
Saudi Arabia has an annual passenger vehicle market of about 700,000 new vehicles.
The majority of those vehicles are SUVs.
Toyota owns about 30% of the market, followed closely by Hyundai/Kia at 25%, and Chinese brands have entered the market and have quickly taken about 10-15%.
Considering the kingdom is best known for its oil production, you can imagine that they are not big buyers of electric vehicles.
The EV market is tiny, with only a few thousand vehicles delivered in 2024, but it is expected to change with the government now offering tax exemptions, subsidies, and the development of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
It explains why Tesla is now entering the market.
Lucid Motors has also famously entered the Saudi Arabian auto market and even deployed a factory in the country, encouraged by its main investors: the Kingdom’s sovereign investment fund.
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