Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Lucid Motors, based in California, is finding Saudi Arabia increasingly vital to its operations.
Since the beginning of the year, Lucid has delivered well over 1,000 vehicles there, received $2.5 billion in support from the country’s fund, and opened new showrooms and service centers to support the growth in the Middle East region.
If for the first quarter of the year, Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson said vehicle deliveries in Saudi Arabia surpassed 500 units, the figures for the second quarter were not disclosed in the recent earnings call held on August 5th.
However, in an interview with Arab News, Lucid’s Chief Operating Officer Marc Winterhoff, said the sales in the country “contributed significantly” to the company’s new delivery records.
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“In fact, as you probably have seen, in the last two quarters we achieved record sales globally, and particularly Saudi Arabia has contributed significantly to that success,” Lucid’s Chief Operating Officer told Arab News.
Last March, the electric vehicle maker led by the former Tesla executive announced that the country’s Public Investment Fund would buy $1.0 billion of a newly created series of convertible preferred stock via private placement.
Earlier this month, on the same day it reported its second-quarter earnings results, Lucid disclosed that PIF would buy another $750 million of convertible preferred stock and provided a $750 million unsecured delayed draw term loan facility. The fund owns more than 60% of Lucid Motors.
In terms of infrastructure, the company is currently expanding its assembly plant aiming to start manufacturing both Lucid Air and the upcoming model Gravity at the plant.
Amid the opening of a new showroom and service center in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Vice President and Managing Director of Lucid Middle East, Faisal Sultan, said the expansion comes as Lucid is “outselling all competitors”.
“We are outselling all our competitors. Therefore, we need a larger footprint. We have a very large service center also. So, the customer will have one location, one solution, where they can come and buy the car and then also later on bring it for the servicing,” Sultan said.
In September 2023, Lucid opened its first plant outside the US in Saudi Arabia, with an initial capacity of 5,000 EVs annually.
In the second quarter of the year, the company delivered 2,394 vehicles while producing 2,110 units. For the full year, Lucid expects to produce 9,000 vehicles.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
