As exclusively reported by EV on February 24, the premium electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors signed the German dealer group Wackenhut as its first European retail partner.
The company confirmed on Monday the signing as it formally launches a hybrid distribution model that the US EV maker plans to replicate across the continent as it expands from four markets to as many as 12 this year.
Vehicle registration data showed that Lucid recorded just 12 vehicles across Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland in February — nearly halving from a year earlier.
Wackenhut will begin selling and servicing Lucid‘s full vehicle portfolio from its Baden-Baden facility in exactly two weeks (March 30), with Stuttgart to follow this summer.
“Additional Wackenhut facilities will support service operations, expanding regional coverage and offering additional service accessibility for Lucid customers as an extension of Lucid’s directly operated sales and service network in the country,” the company stated.
The family-owned dealer group, headquartered in Nagold, represents Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-AMG, Aston Martin, Smart, and Škoda across 11 locations.
Under the hybrid model, Lucid retains control over brand positioning and pricing while partners manage regional sales and service.
The company’s directly operated studios in Munich, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, and Hamburg will continue to operate alongside the new dealer network.
As exclusively reported by EV, the deal was signed earlier this year at Wackenhut’s Baden-Baden location.
Interim CEO Marc Winterhoff confirmed the signing — without naming the partner — during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, adding that Lucid was “in advanced discussions with more than 10” additional dealer groups and importer candidates across Europe.
Scaling Across the Continent
At its Investor Day last week, Lucid said it plans to add 25 new locations in Europe this year — a roughly 200% increase over its current footprint — alongside 10 in the Middle East and seven in North America.
The expansion will take Lucid into Belgium this summer, followed by Denmark, France, the UK, Italy, and Spain.
In an interview with Automobilwoche last September, Hamilton said the company was targeting 12 to 15 German cities as an initial step, with plans to eventually reach 50 to 60 locations through a shop-in-shop format designed to minimise investment for dealer partners.
European Sales Remain Weak
The announcement comes as Lucid‘s existing European business continues to struggle.
Registration data showed the company recorded just 12 vehicles across Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland in February — a 33% decline from January’s 18 units and a 40% drop from the 20 Air sedans registered a year earlier.
Several Gravity SUV units were registered across these markets last month.
However, the company has not officially announced the start of European Gravity deliveries, and early registrations — including three Gravity units in Switzerland in January — are believed to be press, test drive, or showroom vehicles rather than customer sales.
At the IAA Auto Show in Munich last September, Winterhoff told reporters including EV that the first Gravity deliveries in Europe would begin in January, with some units potentially reaching customers before the end of 2025. That timeline has not been met.
