Modest sales, price hikes, but hope for Lucid

The industry has certainly been living in “interesting times” recently, as the expression goes. In many cases, that means not just unsettled but tough times, doubly so for fledgling companies trying to establish themselves. Take Lucid Motors, which is facing the same component shortages as other manufacturers as it tries to make its mark with its first model, the all-electric Air sedan.
The company has made some decisions as a consequence, designed to help it get through the current “interesting times” in one piece, as reported by Automotive News and Reuters.
During the first quarter of the year, only 360 Lucid Air were delivered, which is not very many. The company reported an operating loss of $598 million for the same period on revenues of $57.6 million. Due to a $523 million improvement in the value of its common stock, Lucid's net loss was only 81.3 million. It was $2.9 billion in the same quarter last year.
Nevertheless, the company announced that it will increase the price of its vehicles next month. The news is likely to make waves, but fortunately, reservation holders will not be affected. We're still talking about 30,000 buyers, which is the number in the company's order book.
Of course, it’s obvious the company will never be able to meet the demand if it only delivers 386 vehicles per quarter. Again, there is hope on the horizon, as despite a difficult start to the year, CEO Peter Rawlinson said that in April alone, 300 models had been delivered. Production is picking up, then. In all, 700 models were produced from January to March. Lucid Motors still expects to assemble between 12,000 and 14,000 vehicles this year.
Read more