One of the only reasons I have ever heard someone defend an investment in Lucid is because it has Saudi backing. The Saudi money association is a tremendous negative with Americans. Many many people will not buy Lucid cars because of this association. I believe this is actually what is happening. Only 679 people took delivery of Lucid cars last quarter! I simply do not believe that the supply chain was the reason for their production miss. Furthermore, the CEO claims Lucid will only be able to make 4000 more cars during the remainder of this year due to ongoing parts supply issues??? REALLY??? Rivian is at a similar stage and they are not having this problem. How can Tesla get the necessary parts and chips to build 5,000 cars EACH day? Are the people who run Lucid's supply chain management really so incompetent? I'm sorry but I simply don't believe the Lucid CEO when he blames poor execution in procuring parts for low sales of Lucid cars.
Lucid clearly has a SALES problem and I strongly believe it is simply naive to believe otherwise. The Lucid reservation fee is so low it is no surprise that many buyers simply can not come up with the money to buy a car costing over $100,000. Some anecdotal evidence. Rivian has a truck that many truck owners do not like, yet it delivered 700% more vehicles in the last three months. Rivian has a reservation fee that is much higher, so its backlog is more real.
Rivian did not reduce guidance for the remainder of this year yet Lucid reduced its guidance by 50%!! I can point to a more obvious reason for slow sales of the Lucid Air: the Tesla Model S. The high end Tesla is a much better value in the luxury EV segment. Tesla has also had many years to suck up the limited supply of luxury EV buyers in the US. The Lucid Air is not a better car (its OS software is flaky, Tesla OS software is great) and it cost 25% less. In summary, the Lucid Air only has a limited supply of buyers willing to actually put down the money necessary to buy the car. This is why Lucid Airs are rarely seen on the road in the US. In fact, I have never seen one nor do I know anybody that has seen one.
Regarding Lucid's investors, the Saudis reputation is well known. Even prior to Khashoggi, their association with human rights violations, Russia, their oppression of women, and the brutality used in power struggles among members of the same royal family is a huge negative with Americans. Tiger Woods turned down $1 billion from the LIV golf tour for this reason. Many other golfers turned down tens of millions from the LIV tour for similar reasons. Trump embraces them only because the Saudi's lend his family money for real estate when American financiers balk at his more questionable deals (google Jared Kushner financing for 666 5th Avenue, NYC).
The Saudi Kingdom invested in Lucid at a fraction of the price it is today. They are now insiders. I suspect the Saudis are guilty of propping up the price of Lucid. When Lucid runs out of money in 2023 (it will not turn a profit in the next 4 years according to its own CEO), I suspect the Saudis will only put in money at a price comparable to the price the paid before. I expect that the Saudi investment fund will manipulate Lucid's price down to the single digits to get a larger stake in return for the same amount of money.
You would not think it was the case, but there are a lot of pro Saudi down-voters in this sub, so please upvote if you wist to do so.
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