Lucid board member on EV competition: We're not targeting Tesla
A Lucid (LCID) insider says the EV market is big enough for the money-losing upstart and profitable heavyweight Tesla (TSLA).
"We're not deliberately targeting Tesla," former Dow CEO and current Lucid board member Andrew Liveris told Yahoo Finance Live (video above) when asked about Tesla's new Cybertruck that just rolled off an assembly line in Texas this week.
Liveris — who is the author of the new book "Leading Through Disruption" — says the company is focused on delivering more of its luxury EV sedans and bringing an SUV to market.
"I'd like to think that there's enough total available market for all of us as internal combustion engines fade away," Liveris added. "The EV market will continue to be big and explode. You've just got to scale and get the cash flow to work."
The EV market may in fact be growing quickly, but consumers have yet to ditch Tesla and fully embrace Lucid's sleek autos.
Experts say that reflects the relatively high price points of what Lucid is selling compared to Tesla and new EV entrants from Ford, Mercedes, and General Motors.
The Lucid Air — the only line the company has on offer — has a price tag that starts around a lofty $90,000. As for the top-end Lucid Air Sapphire with a face-ripping 1,200 horsepower, its opening price is around $249,000.
As a result of the sticker price shock, Lucid delivery trends have been soft.
Lucid said it delivered 1,404 vehicles in the second quarter, missing Wall Street’s estimate of 1,873. The company delivered 1,406 vehicles in the first quarter.
Second quarter production tallied 2,173 vehicles, slower than the 2,314 made in the first quarter.
The company is pacing well below its target of making 10,000 EVs this year.
"Given the Air's segment and price points, we do not necessarily view this as a broader read on EV adoption, but the soft Q2 demand will likely intensify the focus on the timing of the Gravity launch, the potential new lower-priced Air trims and Lucid's overall branding/marketing efforts," Citi analyst Itay Michaeli says.
The sluggish output has Wall Street concerned about Lucid's cash outlook after it burned close to $1 billion in the first quarter on a $779 million net loss.
At the end of the first quarter, Lucid had about $3 billion in cash and equivalents.
The company was forced to lay off 18% of its workforce in March.
Lucid will report earnings on Aug. 7.
Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn. Tips on deals, mergers, activist situations or anything else? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com
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