Lucid’s future looks a little dimmer after it released full 2022 financial results Thursday. Not only did it miss some important goals but it set a very low target for production in 2023. The news sent the automaker’s stock down almost 14 percent during the trading day.
At the end of last year, things seemed to be looking up for Lucid. It achieved its twice-revised guidance on production and had over 34,000 reservations for more cars. Today, it says that reservation banks are down to just 28,000. Perhaps that’s why there were reports last year that Lucid would call potentially canceling customers over a dozen times to try and save the sale.
If dropping reservations aren’t a bad sign alone, it also says that fourth-quarter revenue ended up at $257.71 million. That sounds good but many estimated that it would hit $302.61 million.
On top of that, Lucid says that it’ll build somewhere between 10,000 and 14,000 cars during 2023. Building 10,000 to 14,000 cars might sound like a lot after Lucid made just 7,180 last year but it’s actually a pretty slow ramp-up. In fact, according to Nasdaq, analysts on average expected Lucid to build 21,815 cars this year. Its current 2023 production goal is lower than its original guidance for production in 2022.
Read: Lucid Enters EV Price War With $7,500 Discount On Select Models
It’s worth noting too that Lucid only delivered 4,369 cars during 2022, far less than the 7,180 it built. That certainly doesn’t bode well now that rivals like Tesla and Ford are cutting prices on EVs. In a way, it forces companies like Lucid to either stand pat on pricing and risk losing buyers or cut prices and risk profit margins. For now, Lucid is offering $7,500 off of select Air models.
CEO Peter Rawlinson put as positive a spin on the situation as one could. “Last year was a challenging year for everyone, yet despite the extraordinary supply chain and logistics challenges, the team persevered with an unrelenting focus on delivering what we believe is the best luxury sedan on the market,” he said.
There’s little doubt that the Lucid Air is a very good sedan. Whether or not the company can produce enough interest in it and sales of it is another question altogether.
