Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson Sees Sales Slowing Down Later This Year Because... Consumers Will Go On Vacation: 'I Always Offer Caveats'

EV maker Lucid Group LCID expects sales to fall in the upcoming two quarters after reporting a nearly 40% year-on-year uptick in the first quarter.

What Happened: Lucid’s first-quarter deliveries jumped nearly 40% from a year earlier to 1,967 vehicles. However, for the second and third quarters, the company expects sales to dip, owing to particularly strange reasons.

“I always offer caveats. We expect typical seasonal slowing in Saudi Arabia in Q2, and we expect typical seasonal slowing globally in Q3 as consumers go on vacation,” CEO Peter Rawlinson said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call on Monday.

While U.S. automakers generally experience dwindling demand over the winter months in the first quarter, falling demand owing to vacations is often unheard of.

Lucid’s Presence In Saudi Arabia: During the first quarter, Lucid sold over 500 vehicles in Saudi, the CEO said, implying that over 25% of Lucid sales are from the Middle Eastern country.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is a key investor in Lucid. “Now I believe there are two key factors that really set Lucid apart. Our superior in-house technology and our partnership with the PIF, who have been steadfast investors and partners,” Rawlinson said on Monday.

Saudi’s PIF has invested about $6.4 billion into Lucid starting in 2018. The company also raised $1 billion in the first quarter via a private placement to an affiliate of PIF, taking its overall liquidity as of the end of the quarter to $5.03 billion, despite reporting a loss of $680.9 million during the three months.

The government of Saudi Arabia agreed to purchase up to 100,000 vehicles from the company over ten years starting in 2022. The company has two studios and service centers in the country and a car manufacturing factory.

Price Action: Lucid stock closed up 9.5% at $3.05 on Monday but dropped 7.9% after hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro. Stock is down 26.5% year-to-date.

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 Photo by Gage Skidmore on Flickr