No, I wouldn't blame it all on supply constraints. You're right. That was just an earlier sentiment that had been expressed that I was continuing on. There's also the manufacturing processes, which were definitely flawed in a major way. But that seems to have been corrected by reassigning QA duties and revamping the entire process. Which, to your point, demonstrates good leadership in my book. Someone doesn't live up to their job description, they get taken out and someone else gets put on their portfolio.
Avoiding mistakes is great. Reacting to them and correcting them is the better skill. Because no one avoids them all.
Not hearing as many complaints about quality (other than software) in the latest batch of deliveries. So that's a good sign. I'm choosing to believe cars coming off the line from this point on will have far fewer warranty repairs needed.
Software has been a total mess, to be sure. I have a feeling the inside story on that one is a doozy. And it's too early to tell if they've made improvements there, honestly. The extent of the damage is pretty great. Still Lucid's biggest challenge as far as I am concerned. And probably their biggest failing thus far.
The software, as it stands, should not have shipped to customers. But weigh that against making all of your customers wait another entire year before getting their cars, and at some point, something has to give. I'm sure there was plenty of pressure to get cars out the door this year, and that decision wasn't easy. Personally, I think they made the wrong call, but who knows? Time will tell.
As far as writing a letter and fessing up to mistakes goes, they literally just did that. It wasn't Rawlinson, but it was Zak Edson, VP of sales. Given it was an apology about not delivering to customers, that seems like an appropriate person to say something.
I'm sure Rawlinson will have more to say on that topic on the next earnings call as well.
Did Rawlinson paint a slightly rosier than reality picture in January? Yeah. Does anyone honestly think it would have been better to say "Look, we've never done this before. We'll probably screw up the first thousand or two thousand cars royally. So be sure to get that preorder in."?
