The Lucid Air is an exceptional car, made all the more impressive by the fact that it was brought to life by a company that’s still in its infancy. For as good as the Air is, the company’s growing pains have continued through the third quarter with a sizeable drop in production and no explanation as to why.
Figures released by Lucid reveal that it produced a total of 1,550 vehicles during the third quarter of this year and an additional 700 that are bound for final assembly in Saudi Arabia. Lucid also managed to deliver 1,457 vehicles across July, August, and September. While that delivery figure was up from the 1,404 last quarter, the production number was down on the 2,173 units that Lucid produced in the second quarter of 2023.
Lucid has not revealed why production dropped by such a large extent and we’re unlikely to find out until it reports its third-quarter earnings on November 7.
More: Rivian Reportedly Losing $33,000 Per EV, Wants To Slash Costs By $40,000
Whatever the reason may be, the news has spooked investors, prompting a drop in Lucid’s share price by up to 7.2%. Bloomberg notes the car manufacturer’s shares are down 25% this year. This isn’t just because of the limited number of Lucid Airs being produced but also because of how much money the firm is losing on every single one that it sells.
Bloomberg estimates that Lucid will burn $338,000 for every Air that it builds, significantly more than the $33,000 (according to the Wall Street Journal, or up to $110,000 per Bloomberg’s analysis) that Rivian is losing on each vehicle it makes. Lucid’s share price has plummeted 91% from its peak and some suggest that the risk of the carmaker defaulting on its debt payments is increasing.
“Lucid is well below the pace needed to hit even 10,000 cars this year, and that’s why they continue to bleed money,” First American Trust chief investment officer Jerry Braakman said. “The stock will continue to be challenged until they can show that they have made significant progress in the number of units sold.”
