Lucid Motors , the electric vehicle maker backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, opened a new temporary pop-up store in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, expanding its footprint in the Middle East as it prepares for further regional growth.
The new location, situated on the ground floor of The Galleria mall, marks Lucid’s fourth retail site in the region and its first in the UAE capital.
According to the brand’s website, the pop-up store will run until the year end.
“The Lucid experience is coming closer to you,” the company wrote on LinkedIn. “Starting July 1st, explore our exclusive pop-up at The Galleria, Abu Dhabi, and step into the future of electric mobility.”
Until now, the closest Lucid studio for Abu Dhabi customers was in Dubai’s City Walk, 140 km (87 miles) away. The company also operates two permanent studios in Saudi Arabia — one in Riyadh and another in Jeddah.
Lucid is currently assembling both its Air and Gravity models at a facility in Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), which opened in September 2023.
The site is being upgraded to support full-scale vehicle production, with a targeted annual capacity of 150,000 units.
The expansion is intended to serve regional markets and potentially reach European and Asian buyers — excluding China.
Construction of the full production plant is ongoing and expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
Speaking at the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh in May, interim CEO Marc Winterhoff said Lucid was preparing to enter additional markets including Qatar.
“We have started Abu Dhabi and we’re looking into Qatar and other additional markets coming very soon,” Winterhoff told Bloomberg.
In the same interview, Winterhoff called on Saudi authorities to consider imposing tariffs on imported vehicles to support local EV manufacturers.
“It doesn’t mean that this has to go on forever, but in order to have that kind of change in the market, you need to support local players in the beginning,” he said, adding that Lucid had held discussions with the government on the matter.
Lucid’s majority shareholder is the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which holds a stake of about 60% in the company.
The fund posted this week a 60% drop in profit last year, generating SAR 25.8 billion ($6.9 billion) in 2024 compared to SAR 64.4 billion a year earlier, despite a 25% rise in revenues to SAR 413 billion.
