Nascent EV maker Lucid Motors reported its first quarter results, exceeding expectations in some areas while falling short in others. CEO Peter Rawlinson brushed aside concerns about shortcomings, noting the company was focused on growth, specifically the company’s second vehicle, the Gravity SUV.
Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson said the company is focused on growth right now, which will help with scale — and eventually profitability.
Lucid saw its sales jump about 40% during the first quarter after cutting prices on its Air sedan, following the lead of other automakers like Tesla, Ford, Hyundai and others. The result was a rise in sales, but a dip in margins.
The company produced 1,728 Air sedans in Q1 while delivering 1,967 vehicles. While the price reductions moved some metal, it didn’t really move the needle on production. The company is still trailing its predicted production volume of 9,000 vehicles for 2024.
The numbers
Lucid reported a net loss of $685 million for the first quarter of the year. It was an improvement over the $780 million loss from the year-ago period.
Lucid reported deliveries of 1,967 Air sedans during the first quarter of 2024 — a 40% increase.
Investors weren’t impressed in the immediate moments after, as it sank during after-hours trading Monday to $2.82 per share. The disappointment carried on into Tuesday where the stock is down nearly 15% to $2.59 in late afternoon trading.
Revenue in the most recent quarter was $173 million, an improvement over the $149 million it reported in the year-earlier period. Lucid said it ended the first quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $2.2 billion compared with $1.4 billion in the fourth quarter of last year.
Company officials reiterated their 2024 production guidance of just 9,000 vehicles.
More Lucid Stories
- Lucid Keeps Auto Industry’s Strong Sales Results Rolling
- Lucid Lowers Prices, Simplifies Lineup
- Lucid Is Hoping Gravity Will Keep it Afloat — New Gravity SUV, That Is
Building to profitability
While many who follow the company were underwhelmed with the Q1 numbers, CEO Rawlinson focused on the benefits of moving more metal over fretting about the margin — for now.
Lucid is counting on the Gravity SUV to help improve its bottom line.
“It’s all about scale,” Rawlinson said during the call after the results were released. “The more we scale, the more cars we make, the more volume we can spread across fixed costs.”
Rawlinson, who was once a top executive at rival Tesla, said selling more vehicles, whether that’s the current Air sedan or the company’s next vehicle, the Gravity SUV, which is tracking to hit the streets in the fourth quarter, is critical to improving the company’s financial position.
Prices on the Gravity begin at about $80,000 and the Air comes in at just over $71,000. The company’s got a third vehicle, dubbed Space, that is expected to come in at just under $50,000. However, that won’t happen until late 2026.
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