CNBC Lucid Feature

[allenmhc]

This was posted yesterday, but it's CNBC so a lot of it is more business-centric than car-centric:

I do like some of the shots inside the factory, though.

 

[aijunli]

Mark said that Gravity by itself is profitable. It is probably true if there are no repair costs. I haven’t heard a single owner with zero service yet. I am in New Jersey and took delivery on Oct 24. Found problems during delivery that required service. The earliest available appointment was Jan 14.

 

[HC_79]

Mark said that Gravity by itself is profitable. It is probably true if there are no repair costs. I haven’t heard a single owner with zero service yet. I am in New Jersey and took delivery on Oct 24. Found problems during delivery that required service. The earliest available appointment was Jan 14.

I think most cars by themselves are no doubt profitable but that’s not how the real world works. It’s the continued capital investment, R&D and all the other operating costs when factored in drag a cars profitability down.

 

[gaskiller]

This was posted yesterday, but it's CNBC so a lot of it is more business-centric than car-centric:

I do like some of the shots inside the factory, though.

They summarized pretty well but the few things I have issues is with what Narayana was saying- Gravity sales equalled the AIr and not X 6 the Air. Being an auto journalist doesn't mean they use common sense. Gravity just released the more affordable Touring- the volume seller. How can you expect Gravity sales to explode this early. And they just started to ramp.

Another issue is about gross profit...they are spending on factories, tooling, expansion, R and D for midsize- why would they be gross margin profitable?

They complained about factory in Saudi- well, PIF invested to get the factory. It's not like Lucid thought it was a smart idea economically.

I'm surprised these anaylysts and journalists don't use common sense.

 

[HC_79]

They summarized pretty well but the few things I have issues is with what Narayana was saying- Gravity sales equalled the AIr and not X 6 the Air. Being an auto journalist doesn't mean they use common sense. Gravity just released the more affordable Touring- the volume seller. How can you expect Gravity sales to explode this early. And they just started to ramp.

Another issue is about gross profit...they are spending on factories, tooling, expansion, R and D for midsize- why would they be gross margin profitable?

They complained about factory in Saudi- well, PIF invested to get the factory. It's not like Lucid thought it was a smart idea economically.

I'm surprised these anaylysts and journalists don't use common sense.

I actually thought it was a good take on Lucids situation. The profitability question is always going to come up purely for the fact of how much cash they’re hemorrhaging.

I think they’re right to call out the factories. Combined they can produce 240,000 cars a year and Lucid is on track to produce 18,000 this year???. Billions have been poured into those factories while continuing to lose money. Time will tell if it’s money well spent for the mid-market or should’ve expanded as needed.

The main take I took from the video is when Lucid starts to produce the mid-market, the moment they start production the ramp up needs to be FAST. If it’s like the Air and Gravity ramp up they’ll never get a foothold in the market because it will show they simply don’t know how to produce vehicles quickly, even with these state of the art factories.

 

[gaskiller]

I actually thought it was a good take on Lucids situation. The profitability question is always going to come up purely for the fact of how much cash they’re hemorrhaging.

I think they’re right to call out the factories. Combined they can produce 240,000 cars a year and Lucid is on track to produce 18,000 this year???. Billions have been poured into those factories while continuing to lose money. Time will tell if it’s money well spent for the mid-market or should’ve expanded as needed.

The main take I took from the video is when Lucid starts to produce the mid-market, the moment they start production the ramp up needs to be FAST. If it’s like the Air and Gravity ramp up they’ll never get a foothold in the market because it will show they simply don’t know how to produce vehicles quickly, even with these state of the art factories.

Hopefully Air and Gravity release will make them more prepared...I'm optimistic.

 

[hank-iv]

They summarized pretty well but the few things I have issues is with what Narayana was saying- Gravity sales equalled the AIr and not X 6 the Air. Being an auto journalist doesn't mean they use common sense. Gravity just released the more affordable Touring- the volume seller. How can you expect Gravity sales to explode this early. And they just started to ramp.

Another issue is about gross profit...they are spending on factories, tooling, expansion, R and D for midsize- why would they be gross margin profitable?

They complained about factory in Saudi- well, PIF invested to get the factory. It's not like Lucid thought it was a smart idea economically.

I'm surprised these anaylysts and journalists don't use common sense.

As the saying goes: "Common sense is an uncommon virtue"

 

[illopp00]

I actually thought it was a good take on Lucids situation. The profitability question is always going to come up purely for the fact of how much cash they’re hemorrhaging.

I think they’re right to call out the factories. Combined they can produce 240,000 cars a year and Lucid is on track to produce 18,000 this year???. Billions have been poured into those factories while continuing to lose money. Time will tell if it’s money well spent for the mid-market or should’ve expanded as needed.

The main take I took from the video is when Lucid starts to produce the mid-market, the moment they start production the ramp up needs to be FAST. If it’s like the Air and Gravity ramp up they’ll never get a foothold in the market because it will show they simply don’t know how to produce vehicles quickly, even with these state of the art factories.

The month of November Toyota was all the top 10 vehicles in days on lot inventory metric, they have mastered demand, supply and availability. They know how to keep each model at about 45 days. No availability = no sales in mid-market, there are available options anywhere.

 

[RandomDesign]

Finally got a chance to watch this. Interesting to see what seems like an outright lie from Winterhoff at around 9:25 saying that all of the Gravity coming off the production line are for customer orders. The constant and high numbers of them being added to the available vehicles site really doesn't bear that out IMO.

 

[HC_79]

Finally got a chance to watch this. Interesting to see what seems like an outright lie from Winterhoff at around 9:25 saying that all of the Gravity coming off the production line are for customer orders. The constant and high numbers of them being added to the available vehicles site really doesn't bear that out IMO.

Yeah, I thought the same. It’s not a good look and now it just comes across as they’re just building whatever in order to hit the 18,000 and praying they’ll move them quickly.

 

[BSheppard]

I'm an owner and investor... This was an interesting review of their current production and R&D. What concerns me was the lack of focus on the service centers, their operating costs and marketing and sales. Beyond the two videos featuring Timothee Chalamet I can't see the marketing plan. As for the SC's my car has been there since 12/9 and if I check the app it remains in the same place and no clear end date. The issues are minor squeaky 2nd row seat, light not working, crease in the 2nd row fit around the motor assembly, and a small paint issue. The SC has been excellent in communication and a vehicle loaner but the cost of that service for Lucid must be significant and I can't imagine that it is sustainable. I think the Gravity is an awesome vehicle and Lucid have been great to work with. I want them to succeed but it seems to me that they need some dedicated leadership to develop and manage the SC's efficiently and maintain the excellent customer service.

 

[TahoeMichael]

CNBC journalists have always struck me as being quite naive about how startups work. And while Lucid is a public company, they're fundamentally still a startup.

Lucid and the Saudis are in a highly symbiotic relationship. Lucid needed a huge investment that the public markets quite possibly wouldn't have given them. The Saudis are trying to figure out how to continue to be a wealthy country in a post-oil world. The investments in factory capacity certainly don't make sense in terms of Wall Street's quarterly focus. But Wall Street is filled with a bunch of idiots when it comes to startups. They don't like to invest during the early phase of a company when the risks are high but the rewards are potentially also high. Then finally a company does well enough to go public, and Wall Street chronically overpays for companies in the early months of their public trading.

The one thing I think this piece gets right is their no-excuses focus on execution. Lucid's technology roadmap looks great, and the cost reductions they've talked about for the next vehicle are also great. But the new leadership will have to prove themselves. Time to market, production ramp, and quality control are all issues the company has struggled with. External factors have played in hugely, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter, they still have to figure it out.

One question I'd love for Rawlinson to answer: who was the early investor who insisted the first vehicle be a sedan? The PIF? Or someone else?