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Last Updated on: 31st March 2025, 11:37 am
With its EV sales cratering in key markets around the world, Tesla has finally decided to take action to stop the bleeding. No, the Tesla Board of Directors did not ask CEO Elon Musk to resign. Instead, the US carmaker aims to boost sales in Saudi Arabia…yes, that Saudi Arabia, the one where EVs have been a tough sell, especially for Tesla.
Competition Brewing For Tesla’s EV Sales In Saudi Arabia
Tough as it is to sell EVs in Saudi Arabia, the scent of change is in the air. Despite the nation’s firm grip on the fossil energy economy of the 20th century, signs of a recent interest in zero emission mobility have begun to emerge. In January of this year the country registered more than 1,000 EVs and its EV sales growth rate topped 100% for the month, putting in statistical company with other rising markets including Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Denmark, Chile, Colombia, Türkiye, and the UAE.
The surge in EV sales has already sparked interest from Chinese automaker Geely. Over the weekend CleanTechnica reporter Remeredzai Joseph Kuhudzai noted that the company’s Geely Riddara pickup truck branch has big plans for its flagship electric pickup, the RD6, in the Middle East and other markets, with a sales pitch that makes the Tesla Cybertruck seem, well, less than the pickup truck it was initially marketed as.
“Riddara says the flagship model, the RD6, has a unique feature of “drive like an SUV, more than just a pickup,” Kuhudzai observed.
Meanwhile, Lucid Motors is also plumbing the appeal of SUVs to boost its sales in Saudi Arabia, where it has a financial connection. In 2018, shortly after launching as a rebrand of the California startup Atieva, Lucid Motors received an infusion of more than $1 billion from the powerful Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (see more Lucid EV background here).
Lucid Aims To Boost EV Sales In Saudi Arabia, Too
Lucid put all those clamshells to good use, constructing a factory in Arizona to build its first car, the Lucid Air sedan. “Lucid Motors has been trying to leapfrog over Tesla for a foothold in the luxury electric car market, and the going has been tough. Nevertheless, with the backing of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund and other investors, the startup has been taking its best shot,” CleanTechnica observed in 2023.
“That includes opening new retail studios at fashionable shopping destinations, apparently with the aim of catching more eyeballs among the high rollers,” CleanTechnica added.
If you’re looking to increase your luxury EV sales figures, Saudi Arabia would be a good place to start. Sure enough, shortly after cranking up its US operations Lucid Group announced the opening of the first-ever auto factory in Saudi Arabia.
The new AMP-2 (stands for “Advanced Manufacturing Plant-2) launched with an initial capacity of just 5,000 Lucid vehicles yearly using pre-assembled kits from the Arizona facility, with the eventual goal of 155,000 vehicles per year.
In years past, the big question would be how to light a fire under EV sales in a country that has not been particularly quick on the EV uptake. However, the goal of 155,000 vehicles seems reasonable enough not what the question has begun to answer itself.
Lucid is also aiming to attract drivers in Saudi Arabia to its brand with an appeal to home-town loyalty. “Lucid is creating hundreds of new employment opportunities for Saudi talent and supporting the growth of the Kingdom’s automotive supply chain,” the company stated in a press release dated September 27, 2023, adding that its workforce will be numbered in the thousands as the company ramps up operations.
The new factory also received substantial support from three powerful economic development agencies in Saudi Arabia, partly due to its focus on overseas as well as domestic EV sales. ‘”As Lucid’s second Advanced Manufacturing Plant (AMP-2) and first international plant, the facility will produce Lucid’s groundbreaking electric vehicles for Saudi Arabia and export to other markets,” Lucid Group explained.
Oh, So That’s Why Everyone Is Suddenly So Interested In Saudi Arabia
In terms of in-country EV sales, Lucid also has the backing of Saudi Arabia’s EV initiative. The official goal is to have 30% of all new car sales be electric by 2030.
Into this picture steps Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who somehow finds time in his busy days overseeing the dismantling of the US government and throwing thousands of US citizens out of work to paste his hand prints all over state-level elections, most recently in Florida and Wisconsin.
Apparently he has a few minutes to fulfill his duties at Tesla as well. Last week, it was widely reported that Tesla will finally start selling EVs in Saudi Arabia, purportedly healing a rift that dates back to 2018 after the US Securities and Exchange Commission took Musk to task for his use of social media.
If this is supposed to be a rift-healer, Tesla has a funny way of showing it. Tesla reportedly plans to hold a splashy launch event for its EVs and other products in Saudi Arabia on April 10, a date that tromps all over the elaborate publicity plan that Lucid has laid for its first SUV, the Lucid Gravity.
Initial deliveries of the Lucid Gravity began earlier this year and the company has been pumping up expectations for deliveries-in-force in April.
EV Sales And Tariffs, Tariffs, Tariffs
Of course, no story about EV sales would be complete without a mention of the unforced tariff wars decreed by the thin-skinned Commander-in-Chief who occupies the White House. As of this writing the self-proclaimed Fertilizer President is still barreling down the tariff track.
Some analysts have surmised that Tesla’s rivals in the auto industry will suffer more hurt from Trump’s reckless tariffs, but that’s a matter of degree, not kind. Besides, tariffs or not, Tesla’s EV sales slip is showing. The company can run but not hide from the fact that its sales have fallen behind the pace of EV uptake in some markets, and even more concerning, its sales have dropped year-on-year in other markets including the US and Europe.
Meanwhile, the whole US stock market has the jitters over Trump’s supposed “Liberation Day” tariff announcement, to be pronounced on April 1 (no, really). As of 10:00 this morning, Tesla stock was down by almost 5.5% as of 10:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
That beat the overall market, which was down by 0.32% at 10:00. So, it looks like Tesla is at least good at one thing.
Comments? Questions? Drop a note in the comment thread. Also, I have a question for you. Why do you think Trump pardoned Nikola founder Trevor Milton, aside from the obvious pattern of his pardons. Was it to signal that Tesla CEO Elon Musk, too, will be pardoned for, well, anything?
Photo: The US firm Lucid Group aims to ramp up EV sales in the US and Saudi Arabia, too, offering up more competition for Tesla in the luxury market (via CleanTechnica archive).
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