Lucid is recalling 2,888 Air sedans in Saudi Arabia over a fault in the exterior lighting circuit that can cause overheating and fire, the country’s Ministry of Commerce said on Monday, in the largest recall of the EV maker’s vehicles yet announced in its second home market.
The fault in the electrical circuit of the exterior lighting “may lead to its overheating and the failure of the brake light or front lighting, which increases the likelihood of the risk of a fire or an accident,” the ministry said in an Arabic statement.
The recall covers 2023 to 2026 model-year Airs. Lucid will fix the cars with a free over-the-air (OTA) software update, the ministry said, so owners do not need to visit a service center.
Vehicle recalls in Saudi Arabia fall into two groups that matter very differently to owners.
Software recalls are fixed remotely, often before owners notice. Physical recalls require the car to go to a Lucid service center, where parts are inspected or replaced.
Of the four Lucid recalls EV identified from Ministry of Commerce announcements since 2023, all of them for the Air, two have been fixed in software and two required physical repairs.
By vehicle count, software fixes account for at least 2,888 of the 4,415 Airs covered in the three recalls with published figures. The two physical recalls, both for the single-motor Air Pure, covered 1,527.
The recalls, one by one
The first came in November 2023, when the ministry recalled 2023 model-year Lucid vehicles over a programming fault in the rear seat heaters that could cause them to overheat and burn passengers, according to Saudi auto site Saudi Auto. The number of vehicles was not reported.
In the United States, Lucid had fixed the same rear seat heater fault in 1,267 Airs a month earlier with a software update that restored temperature monitoring, according to its filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The second, in December 2024, covered 358 Air Pure rear-wheel-drive models from the 2024 model year over a fault in the wiring harness of the rear drive unit that could cause a loss of propulsion while driving, according to the ministry’s announcement as reported by Sabq.
The Saudi announcement told owners to contact Lucid for the “necessary updates.” In the US, Lucid’s remedy for the same defect on 1,539 cars was to replace the harness, a physical repair, according to its NHTSA report.
The third, in June 2026, covered 1,169 Air Pure models from the 2024 to 2026 model years over improperly installed driveshaft bolts. The driveshaft could separate, causing “a sudden loss of propulsion power while driving,” the ministry said. Owners were told to contact Lucid “to carry out the necessary repairs free of charge.”
That matches a US campaign Lucid widened in March to 3,627 Air Pure sedans, in which technicians remove the original half-shaft bolts and install new ones.
The fourth is Monday’s lighting recall, the only one of the four fixed entirely over the air by the ministry’s own account.
Both physical recalls hit the Air Pure with rear-wheel drive, Lucid’s cheapest Air. With a single motor, a car that loses its rear drive unit or a half-shaft loses propulsion entirely. The dual-motor Touring and Grand Touring keep a second motor.
The US template
Each Saudi recall has followed a US action on the same defect, weeks to months later.
The seat heater fault reached Saudi owners about a month after the US filing. The rear drive unit harness took about seven weeks, from Lucid’s November 2024 NHTSA report to the December announcement in Riyadh.
The driveshaft recall came nearly three months after the US expansion in March, and the lighting recall about two months after Lucid recalled 27,185 Air sedans in the US in August.
The US lighting campaign is the largest in Lucid’s history. NHTSA told owners to park outside and away from structures until the update was installed.
The ministry’s online statement gave no parking instruction. Khaleej Times reported that the authority recommended keeping affected cars away from buildings until the fix is applied, matching the US advice.
The August lighting recall was the Air’s 18th recall campaign in the US since deliveries began, and about two-thirds of those campaigns have been fixed over the air. EV found Saudi announcements for four of them.
One without a Saudi announcement in EV‘s checks is a May campaign covering 2,039 Air Pure sedans built with a Gen 4 inverter that can fail and cut drive power. An over-the-air update warns drivers of an impending failure, and cars that show the warning get a replacement inverter at a service center.
The Lucid recall follows a Saudi recall of 182 Tesla Model 3 sedans from the 2024 to 2026 model years in September over an airbag defect, and of 4,464 Genesis vehicles across eight models over a fuel leak that could cause a fire.
Saudi Arabia is Lucid’s most important market outside the US.
The kingdom’s Public Investment Fund owns a majority stake, and the government signed an agreement in April 2022 to buy up to 100,000 Lucid vehicles over 10 years.
Lucid’s AMP-2 plant in King Abdullah Economic City has assembled Air sedans from semi-knocked-down kits shipped from Arizona, and is being converted to build the Cosmos midsize SUV from scratch, with production due to start next year.
