The CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, seeks to provide the highly anticipated Robotaxi service of society to Saudi Arabia, a decision that aligns the Kingdom Vision 2030 and Tesla’s wider strategy to revive growth thanks to global expansion.
Musk made the ground at the American-Saudi investment forum in Riyadh, telling the Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technologies, Abdullah Alswaha, that the kingdom would be an ideal market for autonomous vehicles.
“Really, you can consider future cars as robots on four wheels, and I think it would be very exciting to have autonomous vehicles here in the kingdom if you are planned,” Musk told a panel session at the forum.
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Robotaxi as Tesla recovery bet
Musk did not give a chronology for the deployment in Saudi Arabia, but Tesla should control her Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, in June. The launch will mark the start of what Musk hopes will be a rapid global deployment of autonomous vehicles – a central pillar in the next Tesla growth phase.
Tesla’s push in robotaxis does not only concern innovation – it is a commercial decision calculated in the context of the intensification of competition in the American electric vehicle market. While sales are slowing on a global scale and competitors such as Ford, Rivian and Chinese car manufacturers eat Tesla’s share, the company is under pressure to find new sources of income and growth boundaries.
Tesla has described the Robotaxi service as a revolutionary model that can transform its cars into income -generating assets for owners. In an article in the Tesla official account, the company said: “With the Robotaxi network, your Tesla will be able to earn money while you do not use it, by paying mainly for itself – it will work, just like you.”
This concept aims to increase the attraction of Tesla vehicles by compensating for their high purchase price with potential income from autonomous carpooling services – a land that changes the situation that no other car manufacturer currently offers on a large scale.
Dan Ives, a Tesla Bull and longtime analyst from Wedbush Securities, has strengthened the importance of this strategy.
“I do not agree that the Waymo / Toyota is a revolutionary affair and a threat to Tesla. Tesla will have the autonomous market in my opinion and no one can compete with their scale and their scope. It begins in Austin in June, then the autonomous trip begins.
Why Saudi Arabia?
Saudi Arabia invests aggressively in advanced technologies to reduce its dependence on oil. Vision 2030, the kingdom’s economic diversification plan, affected technology and mobility as a priority sectors. The country has already published a regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles and welcomes partnerships to accelerate their adoption.
The same day, Musk spoke to Riyadh, the General Transport Authority of Saudi Arabia announced a memorandum of understanding with Uber to launch robotaxis in the country. Uber plans to deploy autonomous vehicles with safety operators on board in 2025, working in collaboration with the Chinese technology company Pony.ai. The memorandum of understanding points out the intention but does not yet guarantee deployment.
Uber is already a dominant player on the carpooling market of Saudi Arabia, operating both under its brand and through its regional subsidiary Careem, which serves 26 cities across the kingdom. Pony.ai, however, carries luggage. Its American operations were suspended after California revoked its license in 2022 for several security violations.
Tesla, on the other hand, has a global reputation and an integrated approach to autonomy, controlling both hardware and software development. This complete model – something that competitors like Waymo, Uber and Apple do not offer – positions Tesla to evolve more quickly, according to analysts.
A global race for high issues
Tesla’s international ambitions for robotaxis warm up at a time when the global regulatory dynamics around autonomous vehicles are starting to move. Countries like Saudi Arabia open up to autonomous technologies, considering them as an integral part of intelligent cities and new generation mobility.
In case of success, the Saudi company could serve as a launch of Tesla in the wider markets of the Middle East and North Africa, where public transport infrastructure is still in development and the populations warned by technology are open to disruptive innovation.
Tesla’s competitors are not motionless. Waymo and Alphabet Toyota combine to extend their Robotaxi services in certain American cities. Apple is also quietly developing autonomous technology. But unlike Tesla, most of these players are counting on third-party vehicle platforms or do not have end-to-end integration which gives Tesla control over production costs, software updates and data.
However, the success of Musk’s height depends a lot on what is happening in Austin. If Tesla successfully deploys its Robotaxi pilot next month, it could open the way to international offers like the one Musk is looking for in Saudi Arabia. The company is still faced with a regulatory examination, public skepticism and unresolved security problems, but the economic logic of autonomous fleets – vehicles that operate 24 hours a day, generate income and reduce congestion – is too imperative to ignore.
Musk, never short of ambition, thinks that Tesla will not only dominate EV space, but will also lead the future of autonomy transport. Saudi Arabia, with its great technological appetite and its strategic need to diversify, can prove to be an ideal partner on this trip.
