Author: Chang Yan

I have been suffering from insomnia for six months.

The “benefit” of gradually adapting to American time zone in terms of sleep rhythm is that I always have trouble falling asleep, but I can watch the games played at night or freshly released financial reports.

Yesterday morning, Real Madrid staged an astonishing comeback in the UEFA Champions League semi-final, scoring two goals in the final two minutes of the game, which made me excitedly shout at home.

So, this morning, we are looking forward to the American “new force” Lucid, which represents the crown, to achieve a stunning comeback in the financial report.

We Seem to Be Deceived by Social Media

But we weren’t.

Throughout the first quarter, Lucid only delivered 360 cars.

This is a data that will really surprise people who have been following Lucid’s performance on social media for a long time.

Not only on Lucid’s official account, but you can also see a lot of user delivery pictures almost every day, and even many photographers who care about Lucid’s factory will regularly tell you that there are nearly 200 cars in the parking lot of Lucid’s factory.

The result now is that we know that while other automakers pick a representative reader letter for delivery, Lucid delivers one vehicle at a time.

But Lucid obviously wants to suppress your fluctuating emotions with another number.

They say they already have 30,000 pending orders.

Compared with the 25,000 orders disclosed in the previous quarter’s financial report, it is obvious that Lucid’s order growth rate has been rapid, and considering Lucid’s single-car price and market range, this number is also considerable.

The most reliable thing is not having orders, but having money on hand.

Lucid has $5.4 billion cash in hand, “expected to provide sufficient funding for the company until 2023”.

Lucid also raised prices

Lucid’s 30,000 orders can also be converted into another number: $2.9 billion in unsold revenue. Although the top-of-the-line Lucid Air Dream Edition has sold out, it should drive down the average selling price for subsequent sales, but Lucid is raising prices.

Because the overall trend is difficult to resist, they are going to raise prices.

Starting from June 1, the reservation prices for Lucid’s existing models will all be raised:

• Air Grand Touring: $154,000 (original price $139,000)
• Air Touring: $107,400 (original price $95,000)
• Air Pure: $87,400 (original price $77,400)

This also explains why the recently released Air Grand Touring Performance has higher prices despite being inferior to the Air Dream Edition in all aspects.

This issue needs to be viewed from two perspectives. On the one hand, further price increases may not be good for consumers and manufacturers, but on the other hand, Lucid’s overall average price is higher and the proportion of price increases to the overall price of the vehicle is limited, and the consumer group’s tolerance will be slightly higher.

At the same time, Lucid has also clarified that they will put their next heavy product, the SUV Gravity, into production in 2024.

Everyone is now paying attention to energy consumption

When the giant in front blocks the road, you have to find a small way to bypass it.

In this financial report, we also saw Lucid’s brand mission. Compared with Tesla’s “speeding up the world’s transition to sustainable energy,” Lucid has undoubtedly done more refinement.

The mission of Lucid should be called “to create the most attractive luxury electric vehicles through advanced technology and human experience, inspiring people to adopt sustainable energy”.

Clearly, there are two points of differentiation that they want: 1. Advanced technology; 2. Luxurious experience.

In addition to performance, Lucid spent two pages in its financial report discussing the value of energy consumption.

From a basic cost perspective, better energy consumption control means that the entire automaker can achieve lower battery costs, which is of great significance in the current situation of skyrocketing battery costs.

For users, this also means a reduction in the cost of using the vehicle throughout its life and a reduction in the overall impact on the environment.

Lucid directly states that a car with lower energy consumption is a stronger electric vehicle product at the basic level.

This coincides with Mercedes-Benz, which was not planned.

The Middle East and China

In this quarter’s financial report, the most talked-about topic is the 100,000 vehicle order that Lucid signed with Saudi Arabia.

According to the contract between both parties, Lucid will start delivering products to Saudi Arabia from 2023, with 1,000 to 2,000 vehicles in the early stages and increasing to 4,000 to 7,000 vehicles per year from 2025.

Over the 10-year period, Lucid will complete the delivery of 50,000 vehicles in the early stages, followed by another 50,000 in the later stages.

The significance of this contract is similar to that of Amazon’s contract with Rivian for 100,000 electric delivery vehicles. On the one hand, it indicates the core investor’s long-term optimism about the invested company. On the other hand, it can quickly promote the company to enter a larger scale in terms of production and gain a greater voice in the supply chain.

And just this week, someone discovered that Lucid’s human resources are recruiting a human resources director for Lucid’s operation in China, and the long-rumored Lucid’s entry into the Chinese market has officially been announced.In a market like China, where luxury electric vehicles are highly sought after and range is a top priority, Lucid might be in for a pleasant surprise, especially considering the continuous delays of the Model S Plaid.

We always hope for an epic turnaround, but the reason it’s so great when it happens is because it’s rare and difficult to achieve.

Although Lucid Q1 didn’t provide us with a great spectacle, Q2 might not be a complete disappointment, considering that the number of cars delivered by Lucid in April reportedly exceeded the previous quarter.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.