Lucid Motors Sees Saudi Arabia As Second-Largest Market After US For Luxury EVs

Lucid Group Inc LCID sees Saudi Arabia as its second-biggest market for luxury electric cars in terms of pre-orders, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing the company CEO Peter Rawlinson.

What Happened:  Rawlinson, who was speaking at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, did not provide a number for the pre-orders but said he aims to sell Lucid Air Pure cars in the Middle East kingdom at a price point as low as $70,000.

The electric car maker, which considers Tesla Inc TSLA as its only true-blue rival, is gearing up to begin deliveries of its first and most expensive model, the Dream Edition, a $169,000, 520-mile range vehicle, over the weekend.

See Also: Lucid Sees Tesla As The Real Competition In 'Two-Horse Race' EV Market: CEO

The Lucid Air entry-level sedan will start at $77,400, excluding an up to $7,500 federal tax credit for plug-in vehicles.

Rawlinson said Lucid’s first factory could have the capacity to make up to 90,000 electric vehicles, as per the report.

Lucid had earlier forecast it expects to deliver 20,000 Lucid Air sedans in 2022 and churn $2.22 billion in sales. 

By 2025, the company expects to ramp up deliveries to 135,000 vehicles and generate more than $13.98 billion in revenue. By then, the company expects to have introduced electric sports utility vehicles and other models in its lineup. 

Lucid has forecast a run-rate production of over 500,000 units by 2030.

The automaker also said on Thursday it will schedule its first earnings report and call since going public in July for investors on Nov. 15.

Why It Matters: Lucid counts Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, as its major shareholder.

See Also: Tesla Rival Lucid Says Air Sedan Deliveries To Start In Late October, Bookings Cross 13,000

Lucid is among a dozen electric vehicle startups that have taken the SPAC route to go public. However, Rawlinson, who was previously chief engineer on Tesla's Model S, is carving out the roadmap cautiously. 

Lucid’s electric vehicle prices are substantially higher than rivals. These numbers are expected to come down as it launches more vehicles that are currently in the pipeline. 

The company is also aiming to begin deliveries in Europe and China beginning 2022 and 2023, where it is currently expanding its team. 

LCID Price Action: LCID shares were trading 3.83% higher at $36.84 midday Friday. 

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