Lucid Motors, which is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), is set to open its fifth studio in the Middle East, as it continues efforts to expand its presence in the region.
The showroom is located in Al Khobar — the easternmost city in Saudi Arabia — and comes two months after Lucid delivered the first units of its second model.
The EV maker currently operates two permanent studios in Riyadh and Jeddah, making the new studio its third location in the country.
Additionally, it has opened two stores in the United Arab Emirates — in Dubai and, most recently, in Abu Dhabi.
The EV maker plans to expand into one or two new GCC countries annually in the coming years, Lucid‘s Middle East President Faisal Sultan told Al Arabiya in July.
“We are already in the UAE — we have a retail outlet and a service location,” Sultan said, adding that the company is “rapidly expanding in the UAE” and in Saudi Arabia, which he described as Lucid‘s two “core markets” in the region.
In an interview with Alarabiya, Faisal Sultan said Lucid‘s main focus for 2025 was to increase brand awareness.
“The biggest thing for Lucid has been brand awareness,” the executive.
For that, besides the retail expansion, the company has established collaborations with not only the Saudi Arabian government but also several companies across the region.
Middle East Production
Lucid has also been producing in Saudi Arabia since September 2023, when it established its semi-knockdown facility (SKD) at the King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC).
The EV maker is currently upgrading the factory so it can manufacture vehicles entirely on-site, instead of only assembling SKD kits.
Full vehicle production is expected to begin next year. The plant will support Lucid‘s manufacturing footprint in the US.
Targeting a capacity of up to 150,000 units per year, Lucid will export to the Middle East and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, but also to European and Asian markets — excluding China.
Later on, the EV maker will be producing its mid-size platform in the KAEC plant, which is already “being designed and engineered,” according to Sultan in September.
The platform is expected to be launched in late 2026/early 2027.
Revenue in the Middle East
Upon releasing its third-quarter earnings results last month, the company provided a breakdown of revenue by region.
The Middle East, Lucid‘s second-largest market, generated $38.38 million between July and September — down nearly 23% from $49.65 million a year earlier.
It represented 11% of total quarterly revenue, with the US being 86%.
Revenue from the UAE was under $378,000, or just 0.11% of the total, nearly halving from the previous quarter.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE together contributed $82.8 million in revenue over the first nine months of the year.
