Visitors walk at the Lucid Air during the Mobile World Congress 2023 (MWC), the telecom industry’s biggest annual gathering on February 28, 2023 in Barcelona, Spain.
Chris Jung | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Luxury electric vehicle maker Lucid Group said Wednesday that it delivered 1,404 of its Air sedans to customers in the second quarter, a bearish update amid demand concerns.
Lucid’s second-quarter deliveries compare with 1,406 deliveries in the first quarter of 2023 and 679 in the second quarter of 2022. Wall Street analysts polled by FactSet had expected Lucid to deliver about 2,000 Airs in the second quarter.
The company said it produced 2,173 Airs in the period, versus 2,314 in the first quarter.
Shares were down about 5% in premarket trading following the news.
Lucid’s stock has fallen about 58% in the last year through Tuesday amid growing concerns about demand for the Air luxury sedan. The Air is a well-regarded luxury sedan with the longest range of any EV currently available in the U.S., but it’s expensive: While lower-priced versions are on the way, the Air currently starts at $138,000 before incentives.
The company surprised Wall Street analysts in February when it said it planned to build just 10,000 to 14,000 Airs in 2023, despite having “over 28,000” reservations on hand. At the time, CEO Peter Rawlinson said the company would focus on marketing in 2023, a hint that it may have been struggling to convert those reservations to sold orders.
In another sign of trouble, Lucid cut about 18% of its workforce, or roughly 1,300 workers, in late March.
Not all the news has been bad, however. Lucid said on June 26 that it struck a deal to supply Aston Martin Lagonda with electric-vehicle powertrains, battery systems and related technology. In return, Lucid will receive a total of about $232 million in phased payments and a 3.7% stake in the storied British supercar maker.
Both Aston Martin and Lucid count Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund among their investors.
During its first-quarter earnings report on May 8, Lucid said that it expects to produce “over 10,000” vehicles in 2023, and that it had enough cash on hand to continue operations until at least the second quarter of 2024. The company raised an additional $3 billion at the end of May.
Lucid will report its second-quarter results after the U.S. markets close on Aug. 7.
