Short dive:
- Lucid Group opened U.S. orders for its highly anticipated Gravity SUV on Nov. 7, with production expected to begin in the coming weeks, the company announced as part of its third-quarter earnings.
- According to an Oct. 29 press release, the luxury electric vehicle maker will start with the Grand Touring trim, priced at $94,900. The model offers more than 800 horsepower and a projected range of more than 440 miles.
- “I believe this innovation has the potential to reshape the SUV market with significant opportunities to scale into a significantly larger market,” Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson said during the company’s Nov. 7 earnings call.
Diving information:
Lucid sees Gravity as a “key driver” of its future growth, said Gagan Dhingra, interim CFO and principal accountant, on the earnings call.
The company plans to ramp up production during the fourth quarter with the launch of the Gravity, as it targets full-year production of 9,000 vehicles. Rawlinson noted that the Gravity adds an SUV to the Lucid lineup, allowing the company to enter a market six times larger than that of the Lucid Air sedan.
“The Lucid Gravity offers the interior space and practicality of a full-size SUV with the exterior bulk of a midsize SUV,” he said, later adding that it is a “great value proposition.”
However, providing this value proposition will require a significant amount of capital. So in October, Lucid raised about $1.75 billion through a $719 million public offering of common stock and a $1.03 billion investment from an affiliate of the Arabian Public Investment Fund Saudi, the company’s largest shareholder.
“This additional capital gives us sufficient financial runway to ramp Lucid Gravity and even through 2026,” Rawlinson said.
Longer term, Lucid has plans for more affordable vehicles.
The lowest-priced Gravity Touring model is expected in late 2025. Pricing starts at $79,900.
Then, in late 2026, the electric vehicle maker plans to start production of a midsize vehicle priced between $48,000 and $50,000.
“We’re not here to just be a niche player,” Rawlinson said. “Lucid exists to make a significant impact on the planet. And to do that, we need scale. And to get this scale, we need to lower prices.”