Lucid pledges to reach 10,000-EV target this year; shares rise

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Lucid Group assured investors its on track to achieve full-year production targets after the maker of luxury electric sedans posted worse-than-expected quarterly results.

The company’s shares jumped more than 5 per cent in post-market trading after chief executive officer Peter Rawlinson said in a statement Monday that Lucid is “on track” to manufacture more than 10,000 vehicles this year.

The second-quarter loss came to 40 cents a share, the Newark, California-based company said in a statement Monday. That was deeper than analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg, while revenue of $150.9m also fell short of expectations.

The company announced in July that it delivered 1,404 vehicles during the period even as output amounted to 2,173.

Lucid Announces Second Quarter 2023 Financial Results. $LCIDhttps://t.co/hw4f73WotJ pic.twitter.com/5jU8HM6hOS

— Lucid Motors (@LucidMotors) August 7, 2023

Lucid is one of many upstart automakers trying to become a bona-fide Tesla competitor. But since commencing production in 2021, it’s struggled to find buyers for its Air sedans that start at around $87,000 and can easily top $100,000 depending on which features are selected.

The company has repeatedly revised its ambitions, most recently saying that it is only expecting to produce near the low-end of its 10,000 to 14,000 vehicle goal for this year.

In March, the EV maker announced plans to cut staffing by nearly 20 per cent. Over the weekend, the company announced numerous price cuts to the different trims of its sedan.

“We’re on track toward achieving our 2023 production target of more than 10,000 vehicles, but we recognise we still have work to do to grow our customer base,” Rawlinson said in the statement.

In June, the company announced a deal to provide electric powertrain technology to Aston Martin Lagonda Holdings, which is partially-owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The fund also owns about 60 per cent of the automotive group.

Read: Aston Martin partners with EV maker Lucid, extends Mercedes pact