Lucid Motors Achieves New Record EV Deliveries Amid Market Challenges

Lucid Motors delivered 2,394 electric cars (EVs) in the second quarter of 2024, setting a record for the firm amid a competitive electric vehicle industry.

Lucid broke its first-quarter record of 1,967 luxury automobile deliveries. With Saudi financing backing, the California-based Lucid Air car maker has been actively lowering pricing and adding trim choices to attract more customers.

Due to recent price cuts, Lucid's basic model now starts at $69,900, down from $100,000 in 2021, according to TechCrunch.

During May's talks on Lucid's first-quarter financial results, CEO Peter Rawlinson noted rising sales, operational efficiency, and consumer and business partner interest.

Lucid plans to make its Gravity SUV by year's end to expand its US market share. Monday morning's press release revealed the company's second-quarter delivery results and 2,110 car production.

This increase in revenue matches Rivian and Tesla's quarterly releases from last week. Rivian's sales were constant compared to the first quarter and year-over-year, whereas Tesla's increased but declined compared to 2023.

Lucid's Struggles

Lucid Motors struggles financially despite recent successes. The corporation recorded slightly over $5 billion in liquidity in May, enough to fund costs into the second quarter of 2025. Lucid said in March that it would raise $1 billion from a Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund subsidiary.

Lucid laid off 6% or around 400 of its employees in May to restructure. The projected cost of this restructuring ranges from $21 million to $25 million, primarily impacting the company's second quarter.

Lucid's CEO, Peter Rawlinson, expressed confidence in the company's future, committing to making the best SUV and growing its market reach, according to a report from Quartz. However, he noted that the new SUV initiative is not yet generating income.

Rawlinson set Lucid's three main goals: boosting Lucid Air premium sedan sales, producing the Gravity SUV by 2024, and managing money. The business plans to create 9,000 premium EVs this year, growing from 8,500 in 2023.

Lucid expects the three-row Gravity SUV to increase its worth, which had plunged 75% by 2023. Lucid hopes the Gravity SUV will help them enter a new EV market sector, competing with BMW and Rivian SUVs.

Toyota EV Sales Accelerate

In separate news, Toyota reported large second-quarter deliveries and quadrupling EV sales.

Toyota sold 621,549 US automobiles in the second quarter, up 9.2% YoY owing to strong EV sales. Hybrid and electric cars comprised 40% of the company's volume and rose 63% YoY to over 250,000. Toyota's fastest-growing segment is EVs/PHEVs, according to Yahoo! Finance.

Toyota currently has 29 hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and a fuel-cell electric vehicle, up from 27 last quarter.

The Toyota Group sold 24,266 plug-in electric cars, up 112% YoY, accounting for 3.9% of total sales, up from 2.0% last year. Toyota had 17,589 plug-in sales, up 91% YoY, while Lexus almost doubled to 6,677.