Lucid Motors set a goal to produce more than 10,000 of its Air sedans in 2023, though past production data paired with new registration data suggest that the automaker may have a tough time reaching this goal by the end of the year.
Experian registration data reported by Automotive News on Wednesday estimates that Lucid had around 4,267 Air units registered in the first eight months of the year, with about 478 units delivered in August. According to the data, the August registration figure marks a 40-percent jump year over year, while the company’s registrations from January through August almost tripled the figure from the same period last year.
While Lucid does not report its monthly sales figures, registration data is often used to estimate deliveries.
In the first half of the year, Lucid reported producing 4,487 Air units with 2,810 deliveries of the electric vehicle (EV), while a separate Cox Automotive estimate said that the automaker delivered around 1,601 units during the third quarter. The low figures heading into Q4 highlight continued struggles to ramp up production of the Air sedan, even after Lucid cut its production target earlier in the year.
In May, Lucid reduced a previous production forecast of 14,000 to “over 10,000,” before going on to report a Q2 net loss of $764.2 million with $150.9 million in revenue.
The news comes just after Lucid launched the Air Sapphire, which is the company’s most expensive model yet at $250,500. Earlier this month, Lucid also debuted its Air Pure configuration, which features a single motor and rear-wheel-drive and starts at a price of $78,975.
Reveling in the delivery of the first #LucidAir Sapphires. pic.twitter.com/rTpORxQfIS
— Lucid Motors (@LucidMotors) October 9, 2023
By comparison, Tesla reported 365,923 vehicles produced and 343,830 delivered in the third quarter alone.
Lucid ranked 18th in Experian’s registration data from January to August out of a total of 27 EV brands included. The startup EV maker followed Porsche, which had 4,505 Taycan EVs registered, and just ahead of Genesis, which had a total of 3,525 registrations between the G80 sedan and its two other crossover EVs.
Last month, Lucid also launched the first EV factory in Saudi Arabia, dubbed the Advanced Manufacturing Plant 2 (AMP-2), after deliveries of the Air sedan began in the country earlier this year. The Saudi Arabian government has also agreed to purchase 100,000 Lucid EVs for use in its official fleet. Lucid Motors also operates a factory in Casa Grande, Arizona, dubbed AMP-1.
Lucid’s Peter Rawlinson is highest paid auto CEO in 2022 with $379 million compensation
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