Saudi-backed Lucid EV makes more cars but lags target

• Production up 22% on quarter
• Thousands of vehicles recalled over errors
• Q4 sales projected to increase by 21%

Saudi-backed US electric vehicle maker Lucid has increased Q2 production by 22 percent but still looks likely to miss its annual targets.

Some 2,110 vehicles were produced, compared to 1,728 in the previous quarter. However, the company’s annual target is 9,000 units. 

The company also received a setback when the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on July 9 that it would recall around 5,251 Lucid Air luxury sedans over a software error and 7,506 over a coolant heater that fails to fully defrost the windshield. 

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Lucid, which is 60 percent owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), it assembling the Lucid Air at factories in Arizona and at King Abdullah Economic City in Jeddah, with a basic price of $69,900 per vehicle.

The data analytics firm Visible Alpha said that sales at Lucid would continue to rise as its unit price comes down. It said 2024 sales were projected to grow by 21 percent. 

PIF has invested billions in Lucid as part of a strategy of backing green industries, though EV usage in Saudi Arabia is still extremely low. 

There were fewer than 1,000 electric cars on the roads in Saudi Arabia in 2023. However, Ceer, a joint venture between PIF and Taiwan’s Foxconn, is due to start production within a year. 

Visible Alpha, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the US company Tesla and China’s BYD are the world’s leading EV manufacturers.

Of five other companies, including Lucid, that are running to catch up with the big two,  three are Chinese. 

“China’s dominance in the EV supply chain is supported by key advantages including access to critical resources such as graphite and government support,” Visible Alpha said.