Luxury EV maker Lucid misses the mark on deliveries

Lucid said Tuesday it delivered 1,457 of its luxury all-electric Air sedans in the third quarter, missing Wall Street expectations by about 500 vehicles.

Perhaps more troubling is the year-over-year comparison. Lucid delivered 1,398 vehicles in the third quarter of 2022, meaning growth over the past year is nearly flat. It was the same story on a quarter-over-quarter basis. Lucid’s third-quarter deliveries were just slightly higher than the 1,404 vehicles it delivered to consumers in the second quarter.

The results sent shares down about 3.6% as investors grew concerned that demand for the company’s only EV has softened.

Lucid also reported Tuesday it produced 1,550 Airs in the third quarter with more than 700 additional vehicles in transit to Saudi Arabia for final assembly. Lucid produced 2,282 vehicles in the third quarter of 2022.

Lucid has had a roller coaster year that included hitting a production milestone in January, missing Wall Street’s delivery expectations in February, recalling hundreds of vehicles and downsizing its workforce in March, posting weaker-than-expected revenue and earnings in May, landing a deal with Aston Martin in June and falling short of Q2 expectations in July.

The deal with Saudi Arabia may be the lifeline Lucid needs to keep it afloat until it can begin producing and selling the next EV in its portfolio, the Gravity SUV. The company has said it plans to reveal the Gravity SUV in November with production not beginning until 2024.

The government of Saudi Arabia, which is connected to the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund that owns 60% of Lucid, announced last year plans to buy 100,000 the automaker’s electric vehicles over the next decade. Lucid opened in September a factory in Saudi Arabia, that will have an initial capacity to assemble 5,000 Lucid vehicles annually. Lucid said it plans to expand the facility to 150,000-vehicle production capacity. Workers at the plant will initially re-assemble Lucid Air vehicle kits that are pre-manufactured at the company’s U.S. factory in Casa Grande, Arizona. Lucid aims to transition the Saudi Arabian factory to complete build unit production after the middle of the decade.