Lucid Motors‘ shares plunged more than 9% to $21.82 in early trading Tuesday after the EV maker’s third-quarter production and delivery figures fell short of Wall Street expectations.
The company is grappling with a series of challenges — from supply chain disruptions and the looming loss of US EV tax credits to an ongoing, nearly eight-month search for a new chief executive following Peter Rawlinson’s abrupt departure in February.
The broader EV market was also under pressure on early Tuesday.
Despite the wide rollout of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving version 14.1 and just hours before the unveiling of the cheaper Model Y variant, Tesla shares were down about 3% in early trading before pairing losses later in the session.
Rivian declined 1.3%, while Chinese EV maker Nio fell nearly 4%, extending a multi-day slide across the sector.
Lucid said on Monday it produced 3,891 vehicles and delivered 4,078 in the quarter, while more than 1,000 additional units were pre-produced and will soon be assembled at its Saudi Arabian assembly plant.
Those vehicles will be counted as fourth-quarter production. Analysts had expected stronger results, and the shortfall triggered fresh selling pressure.
According to a research note from Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Sheppard and first obtained by PriceTarget, consensus for the July–September period was estimating 4,286 EVs delivered and 5,175 vehicles produced.
As reported earlier this Tuesday, Lucid recently began recruiting for a second production-shift team lead at its Arizona factory as part of efforts to increase output.
The company aims to meet its revised 2025 guidance of 18,000 to 20,000 vehicles, cut in August from a prior 20,000-unit target.
To hit that range, the company would need to meaningfully raise production rates in the final months of the year.
The cheaper entry-level variant of the Lucid Gravity model is set to begin production before the year’s end at the Casa Grande, Arizona, plant.
Demand in Europe continues to remain minimal.
September registrations in Germany dropped to a new 18-month low, while sales figures in the Netherlands and Norway stood at three and zero, respectively.
As reported this week, Interim Chief Executive Officer Marc Winterhoff said recently that the company’s Gravity SUV has an average selling price of “about $120,000,” in the US.
The first units of the model are planned to be delivered in Europe in the first days of 2026. Production of European-focused has already begun, the management told EV and other media outlets in early September.
Winterhoff, who succeeded Peter Rawlinson in February, also said late last month that he is “not aware of any ambitions right now to take [Lucid] private,” addressing speculation about a potential buyout by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
The PIF and its affiliates have injected roughly $8 billion into Lucid and committed to purchase up to 100,000 vehicles over time. Currently, PIF owns about 58% of the EV maker.
Lucid announced plans for a 1-for-10 reverse stock split in July and executed it in early September after shareholders’ approval.
A further drag on sentiment is the upcoming change in US federal EV tax-credit rules, which could weigh on industrywide sales in the fourth quarter.
The $7,500 credit, available for qualifying models, will no longer apply to leases.
Lucid‘s stock remains up 13.9% over the past month, but is down 4% over the past three months. Year-to-date, shares have dropped 26.9%, deepening a 35.8% decline over the past year.
