Lucid Motors (LCID), an American electric vehicle manufacturer, is expanding internationally. Lucid’s EVs are now available for lease in Saudi Arabia for the first time.
The first Lucid EVs Enter Saudi Arabia Market. In the second quarter of 2023, Lucid produced 2,173 electric cars and delivered 1,404. The figures were underwhelming, indicating a declining trend in production and flat delivery over the previous two quarters.
Lucid’s output has dropped more than 37% since its peak in Q4 2022, while deliveries are down 27%.
On the plus side, Lucid did provide an important update. The company stated that it “began material shipments to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
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Lucid’s main shareholder is Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). Saudi Arabia’s PIF holds around 60.5% of the EV maker’s common stock after injecting around $1.8 billion last month as part of a $3 billion stock sale. To date, the fund has invested around $9 billion in Lucid.
According to sources, the first EVs are already available for leasing, just a week after Lucid announced that material shipments to Saudi Arabia had commenced. The Saudi Post tweeted on Tuesday.
Saudi leasing businesses begin leasing luxury electric “Lucid” cars within the Kingdom for the first time.
Last year, Lucid disclosed that the Saudi government agreed to buy at least 50,000 electric vehicles over the next ten years. The agreement is part of the Kingdom’s “Saudi Vision 2030” initiative to decrease emissions and put the country on a path to long-term economic growth.
Saudi Arabia’s economy is currently based on oil, which accounts for roughly half of the country’s GDP. The strategy includes developing and exporting sophisticated EVs, as well as raising non-oil exports’ proportion to non-oil GDP to 50%, up from around 16% presently. Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdulla Al-Swaha explained in October.
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By 2026, the Kingdom will have produced and exported over 150,000 electric vehicles.
According to Al-Swaha, the Kingdom’s majority ownership in Lucid “has placed the Kingdom among developed countries.” He also stated that building on Lucid’s first production plant in the region began in May of last year.
Lucid has also just engaged in a strategic agreement with Aston Martin to deliver innovative EV powertrain technology. According to CEO Peter Rawlinson, the $450 million deal is merely the beginning of Lucid’s tech company.
