EV maker Lucid sticks to annual production roadmap

By Akash Sriram and Abhirup Roy

(Reuters) -Luxury electric vehicle maker Lucid Group stuck to its annual production target of more than 10,000 cars, brushing aside supply chain worries and a quarterly revenue miss, while sending its shares higher by nearly 5% in extended trading.

Lucid’s production plan is in contrast to the wider EV industry trend, where smaller players are burning through precious cash reserves in their effort to scale up production, while battling parts shortages.

“We are not limited by our ability to manufacture … Most of the supply chain has now come through out of the COVID era. We are not seeing that as a significant constraint on our ability to operate,” CEO Peter Rawlinson told Reuters.

Lucid’s deliveries in the second quarter were unchanged from the prior three months at 1,404 units, while its production fell 6% from the first quarter as it struggled to ramp up.

Competition from Tesla (NASDAQ:)’s Model S, whose prices were cut earlier this year, and rising borrowing costs have posed a threat to Lucid’s growth. In response, Lucid slashed prices for its Air luxury sedan as part of a special offer on Saturday.

Lucid has also been struggling with rapid cash burn, prompting it to raise $3 billion through a stock offering, nearly two-thirds of which came from majority-owner Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Lucid reported revenue in the April-June period of $150.9 million, missing estimates of $175 million, according to seven analysts polled by Refinitiv.

The company’s cash balance at the end of the second quarter stood at $2.78 billion, compared with $900 million, at the end of the year’s first three months.

Lucid’s adjusted loss in the second quarter stood at 42 cents per share, wider than analysts’ estimates for a loss of 33 cents.