Lucid Motors assembled the first prototype of its upcoming midsize SUV at its Arizona plant on Friday as the company prepares to expand into the $50,000 price segment.
“Spent time in our prototype build area today watching the first full Lucid midsize vehicles come together,” Nick Twork, vice president of communications, wrote on X.
The crossover, targeting the $50,000 segment, will be priced approximately $20,000 below the current entry-level Air sedan and is scheduled to enter production in the final months of 2026.
“Same Lucid DNA as Air and Gravity — space, efficiency, dynamics, and range — paired with dramatically improved manufacturability and cost structure,” Twork wrote before teasing more updates in the near term.
“These are going to surprise people,” the VP added. “More soon.”
The model is confirmed for production at Lucid‘s Saudi Arabia facility once it becomes fully operational, though it remains unclear whether the Casa Grande plant will also manufacture the vehicle.
The midsize platform will underpin three upcoming SUVs, including one with an off-road focus.
All three vehicles will feature Nvidia’s DRIVE AGX Thor computing platform and target Level 4 autonomous capability.
In late October, Lucid released a teaser image showing the crossover will adopt a low-slung design similar to the Gravity SUV.
The teaser marked the second preview in thirteen months, following an initial image shared in September 2024 when Peter Rawlinson was still serving as chief executive and chief technology officer.
Reveal Timeline
In early December, Chief Financial Officer Taoufiq Boussaid said Lucid plans to unveil its third EV model “somewhere mid next year,” six months before the electric crossover enters production.
Speaking at the UBS Conference, Boussaid said the company has “a tentative official reveal date” set for “somewhere mid next year,” timing that may coincide with a planned investor day in the first half of 2026.
The date of the investor day was revealed by a research note from Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Sheppard, who announced Lucid aims to host it on March 12.
The event will provide details on the company’s strategic roadmap as investors seek updates on upcoming models and overall strategy for the Saudi-backed EV maker.
Lucid plans “to explain our road map and how we will be getting there and when,” Boussaid said on December 4.
The CFO said he is suggesting the company have an exclusive preview for analysts and investors ahead of the public unveiling. “I’m trying to have an exclusivity for analysts and investors,” he said when asked about the timing of both events.
Unlike previous vehicle launches, Lucid will skip reservations and open orders immediately upon public reveal.
“We don’t want to do reservations. We will go straight for orders,” Boussaid said, adding that “timing should be more or less in line” with the investor day.
Robotaxi Ambitions
The midsize model is central to Lucid‘s autonomous vehicle strategy.
The CFO indicated the upcoming midsize model will be “even more advanced” for autonomous operations than the Gravity SUV.
“The Gravity is the first start. I mean it’s a big car. It’s an expensive car. It might not be the obvious choice for a robotaxi service. But the next step of the program will be with the midsized as that will be even more advanced in terms of its ability to serve this type of application,” Boussaid said.
Lucid‘s vehicles for Uber will use autonomous driving technology from Nuro, the self-driving startup that raised $203 million in a funding round last year backed by Nvidia and other investors.
PIF Commitment
Lucid shares soared about 25% between Wednesday’s first minutes of trading and the first few hours of Thursday.
The surge followed the Cantor Fitzgerald research note in which the firm said the EV maker’s main backer remains committed to supporting the company after talking with the Public Investment Fund.
“Historically, investors have wondered about the PIF’s commitment and willingness to continue backing the company financially, which may have affected LCID’s valuation, in our opinion,” Sheppard wrote.
“Following our conversations, we come away more encouraged, and we believe that the PIF remains committed to LCID over the long term, which we see as material,” the analyst added.
Cantor maintained its price target of $21 on the stock, implying an upside potential of more than 100% based on the previous closing price of $10.12.
Financial Outlook
The new platform comes as Lucid works to narrow losses.
The company reported a net loss of $978.4 million for the three months ended September 30, compared with $992.5 million a year earlier.
The stock erased part of the gains from earlier in the week and closed 3.6% lower on Friday at $11.06.
In 2025, Lucid shares fell by 65% over twice-reduced annual production guidance, the departure of Peter Rawlinson as CEO and CTO, but also on slower than expected ramp up of the company’s second model.
The EV maker went public in July 2021 via a merger with the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Churchill Capital Corp IV.
