Lucid Motors will not enter the United Kingdom until 2027, when it plans to launch with the Cosmos — its upcoming mid-size SUV — rather than either of the two vehicles it currently sells, according to an interview with the company’s European president published by AutoCar.
Lawrence Hamilton told the British outlet that neither the Air sedan nor the Gravity SUV is likely to be converted to right-hand drive.
In mid March, Lucid said it plans to add 25 new locations in Europe this year — roughly tripling its current footprint — alongside 10 in the Middle East and seven in North America.
While the platform was designed to accommodate the conversion, the additional engineering work is not justified at current volumes, according to the executive.
By contrast, the Cosmos has been developed for right-hand drive from the start.
“To engineer Air and Gravity for right-hand drive is a big investment, and there has to be a return on that investment,” Hamilton said. “The volume opportunity really exists with the mid-size cars.”
He added that if the Cosmos performs well commercially, it may generate the funds to justify converting the Gravity to right-hand drive in the future.
The timeline represents a delay from earlier commitments.
At the IAA Auto Show in Munich last September, interim CEO Marc Winterhoff told Auto Express that Lucid would enter the UK with a vehicle on its “mid-size platform” in “late 2026.”
At the time, the model had no public name.
Lucid revealed the Cosmos branding only at its inaugural Investor Day on March 12 this year, alongside two other mid-size models — the Earth and an unnamed third variant.
Hamilton revealed in the interview that the UK launch vehicle will be the Cosmos.
At the same IAA event, Winterhoff told reporters including EV that Lucid had “just reopened the plan” for a right-hand drive Gravity.
“In the last couple of weeks we looked at all the data and the potential volumes,” Winterhoff said at the time.
He noted the conversion would serve not just the UK but “other right-hand drive markets throughout the world” including Singapore, Japan, Australia, and India. “It’s not only the UK — it’s other right-hand drive markets throughout the world that we can tackle with that, so it’s in the making,” the interim CEO added.
From Late 2026 to 2027
The shift extends a pattern of delayed European milestones.
In June 2025, Hamilton told Spanish outlet Marca that Lucid aimed to establish a presence in the UK, France, Italy, and Spain within 18 months.
In September, Winterhoff told reporters at the IAA — including EV — that the company would expand into eight additional European markets in 2026, tripling its continental footprint.
Separately, Winterhoff and Hamilton both said at the IAA that European Gravity deliveries would begin in January 2026.
As EV reported in February, that timeline was missed without a public announcement.
Lucid has since begun delivering the SUV to European customers, and this week hosted a European media drive event for the Gravity in Mallorca, Spain, with more than 40 journalists and content creators from across the continent.
The Mallorca event included media from both existing markets and countries Lucid is preparing to enter.
Why Cosmos First
Hamilton framed the Air and Gravity as “proofs of concept and brand-building” vehicles, telling Autocar that the mid-size platform would be the real volume play for the company.
“Arguably, Air and Gravity show the world what we’re capable of doing,” he said. “Mid-size will provide that capability to a bigger mass market.”
The Cosmos is built on an entirely new platform with an 800-volt architecture and Lucid‘s next-generation Atlas drive unit, which the company says has 30% fewer parts and 37% lower manufacturing costs than the Zeus powertrain used in the Air and Gravity.
The vehicle targets a US starting price of under $50,000.
At the IAA in September, Winterhoff told Auto Express that would translate to approximately £36,900 before VAT — a figure that would undercut the Tesla Model Y in the UK if it holds.
Lucid plans to reveal the Cosmos this summer, begin production at its Saudi Arabian plant by the year end, and deliver the first units to UK customers in 2027.
UK Retail Model
Unlike its continental European markets — where Lucid launched with company-owned studios in cities such as Munich, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, and Hamburg — the UK will use traditional dealer partnerships from the outset.
Lucid has already begun building this dealer network on the continent.
As EV exclusively reported on February 24, the company signed the German dealer group Wackenhut as its first European retail partner.
The family-owned group, headquartered in Nagold, represents Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-AMG, Aston Martin, Smart, and Škoda across 11 locations.
Wackenhut began selling and servicing Lucid vehicles from its Baden-Baden facility on March 30, with Stuttgart to follow this summer.
Under the hybrid distribution model, Lucid retains control over brand positioning and pricing while dealer partners manage regional sales and service.
The company’s directly operated studios continue to function alongside the new dealer network.
Interim CEO Winterhoff confirmed during the fourth-quarter earnings call that Lucid was “in advanced discussions with more than 10” additional dealer groups and importer candidates across Europe.
Hamilton told Automobilwoche last September that the company was targeting 12 to 15 German cities initially, with plans to eventually reach 50 to 60 locations through a shop-in-shop format.
Hamilton confirmed there are no plans for European vehicle production. All Cosmos units for the UK will be manufactured at Lucid‘s AMP-2 plant in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia, which is being upgraded from SKD assembly to full-scale vehicle production.
European Demand
Lucid‘s European sales remain negligible.
As EV reported this week, the company registered zero Air sedans in the Netherlands during the first quarter of 2026 and just one vehicle in Norway over the same period.
Registration data showed just 12 vehicles across Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland in February — a 40% decline from the 20 units registered a year earlier.
Across its four existing markets, the Air has struggled to gain traction since launching in late 2022.
CFO Taoufiq Boussaid acknowledged the challenge on the company’s most recent earnings call, noting that the Air and Gravity “are still actually on the large side” for European buyers.
“There’s not a tremendous growth that we’re attributing to that region, which will change with the midsize,” he said.
Hamilton told Autocar he was not concerned by the slow start.
“The strategy was always quite clear, which is to start relatively small and modestly,” he said.
He also confirmed Lucid would remain a pure battery-electric brand. “We are not interested in having anything to do with fossil fuel-burning technologies,” he said.
