Lucid reports turnover losses in 2023

Lucid Motors has published its business figures for 2023. It is hardly surprising that the bottom line is a loss in the billions. Surprisingly, however, the manufacturer cannot benefit from the rise in unit sales: Turnover was even lower than in 2022.

Lucid built 8,428 electric cars in 2023, 6,001 of which were delivered to customers. That is more than in 2022, when the carmaker handed over only 4,369 Lucid Air. The EV startup achieved a turnover of 608.2 million dollars at the time. Although more than 6,000 Lucid Air were delivered in 2023, the annual balance sheet only shows a turnover of 595.3 million dollars.

Lucid increased delivery figures in part through radical price cuts over last year. In August, US prices for the Air fell by more than 10,000 dollars. On top of that, the company cut prices again by up to 10,000 dollars at the beginning of November 2023, depending on the model variant, and by up to 13,400 Canadian dollars in Canada. According to the company, the second reduction was only valid for a limited period until 30 November. However, the next discount campaign to sell off the 2023 Air models until the end of January followed almost immediately.

Although a second production facility has now gone into operation in Saudi Arabia, and Lucid will expand its portfolio in 2024 to include the Gravity SUV, the company expects to build 9,000 vehicles in the current year – only around 500 units more than in 2023. The original production forecast for 2023, 10,000 to 14,000 vehicles, will thus not be achieved in 2024 either.

The bottom line is a net loss of 2.83 billion dollars in 2023. Incidentally, Lucid does not mention the net loss in the press release on the business figures; it can only be found in the detailed annual report. The company’s PR statement emphasises that it closed the fourth quarter with “total liquidity of around 4.78 billion US dollars.”

“Lucid is investing for the long term in technology, manufacturing and partnerships to further solidify our place in the market as the premier luxury EV brand in the world,” said Peter Rawlinson, Lucid’s CEO and CTO. “In 2023, we made our first strategic technology arrangement, gained market share, completed the Air lineup, and unveiled Gravity. As we start 2024, I’m very excited about the year ahead and beyond. We are entering the next transformational phase of the Lucid vehicle lineup and are laser-focused on growth.”

lucidmotors.com, lucidmotors.com (letter to investor; PDF)