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Lucid beats latest delivery expectations

By Neil Halligan
Saudi-backed US luxury electric vehicle maker Lucid exceeded market expectations in Q3, delivering 24 percent more cars than forecast Lucid
Discounts and finance options helped boost US EV maker Lucid's third quarter sales
  • Discounts boost sales
  • Shares up 2.4%
  • EV sales slow in kingdom

Saudi-backed US luxury electric vehicle maker Lucid has exceeded market expectations for its third quarter, delivering 24 percent more cars than had been forecast. 

Analysts cited discounts and more favourable finance options as reasons for the sharp increase. 

Lucid delivered 2,781 vehicles in Q3, ahead of estimates of 2,242, according to analysts polled by Visible Alpha.

Shares in the Nasdaq-listed company rose 2.4 percent at close on Monday.

Sales of EVs in the US have been weakening due to high interest rates and the availability of cheaper hybrid alternatives.

Lucid, which is 60 percent owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is assembling the Lucid Air at factories in Arizona and at King Abdullah Economic City in Jeddah, with a basic price of $69,900 per vehicle.

PIF has invested billions in Lucid as part of a strategy to diversify the kingdom’s economy beyond oil and boost green industries. 

In August Lucid received a cash injection of $1.5 billion from its majority stockholder Ayar Third Investment Company, an affiliate of PIF, which was “expected to provide sufficient liquidity into at least the fourth quarter of 2025”, Gagan Dhingra, interim chief financial officer and principal accounting officer at Lucid, said.

It was the second time this year that Lucid has tapped Ayar for funding. In March the Saudi company agreed to buy $1 billion of a newly created series of convertible stock via private placement.

Lucid reported second-quarter revenue of $200.6 million on deliveries of 2,394 vehicles and expects to manufacture 9,000 in 2024. 

Imports of electric vehicles in Saudi Arabia rose sharply in 2023, but to a total of only 779 EVs, despite government hopes that it can become a green economy leader through the manufacture and use of electric cars. 

In May Lucid partnered with Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Company, a Saudi government entity, to create a network of charging hubs around the Gulf state.

Longer driving distances in Saudi Arabia could hinder the spread of EVs, analysts say. 

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