Following Tesla’s recent entry into the Saudi market, the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD stated its intention to triple its presence in the Kingdom.
According to Jerome Saigot, BYD’s managing director in the Kingdom, the automobile giant intends to grow to ten locations from its current three showrooms by the end of 2026.
The expansion follows Tesla’s April 2025 entry into the Saudi market, when it opened a showroom in Riyadh, joining BYD and fellow Chinese company Geely. The firm now expects to sell more than 5,000 vehicles this year in the Kingdom, a drop in the bucket for BYD’s overall sales but sizeable in a market where petrol-guzzling cars dominate the roads and electric vehicle adoption has been slow.
The move is in line with Saudi Arabia’s larger aim to become a regional electric vehicle hub. As part of its “Vision 2030” economic diversification strategy, Saudi Arabia has set a 2030 EV adoption target of 30%.
“The Saudi market is complicated. You must move quickly. You have to have a big vision. We are not here to stay at five thousand or ten thousand cars a year,” Saigot stated in an interview with Bloomberg.
By financing Lucid Motors, introducing its brand Ceer, and assisting in the construction of charging infrastructure, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has been making significant investments in the electric vehicle industry.
However, according to Bloomberg, which cited statistics from PwC, electric vehicles still only make up a little more than 1% of all automobile sales due to high prices, a lack of adequate charging infrastructure, and severe weather.
“Tesla’s presence in the Kingdom is a positive development, helping to boost consumer awareness of EVs,” Saigot told Bloomberg. Saigot, who joined BYD in April after working for Nissan Motor and Great Wall Motor, stated, “The more Tesla communicates on marketing, the better it is for us.”
After outselling the American EV giant in Europe for the first time in April 2025, BYD has been catching up with Tesla on a worldwide scale.
With Tesla’s recent market launch viewed as a potential catalyst for faster adoption, the Kingdom’s push toward electric transportation is gathering steam. In an interview, Oliver Wyman partner Alessandro Tricamo told Arab News that over half of Saudis are now thinking about buying an EV.
“Tesla’s entry into the Saudi market is potentially a significant win-win situation,” he said, pointing to the brand’s appeal in a car-centric market and the company’s need to expand beyond declining Western sales.
Recently, Taline Vahanian of Marsh UAE also cautioned about the sector’s vulnerabilities, including expensive insurance rates and battery deterioration in intense heat, which might impede adoption.