Lucid future and possible consequences

[chinesejpl]

As an GT owner, I'm not trying to be negative or a troll but I wanted to see what others think about an issue I worry about. We are all probably aware of the financial situation of lucid and other electric car companies not named Tesla including the recent post about lucid's attempts to save reservation cancellations and Elon's recent comments about lucid's future. My worry is what happens if lucid does run out of money? I know it is backed by Saudi sovereign wealth fund so much better chance it will survive so that is reassuring. However, I think we can all admit that the current air isn't a finished product but that we are all in it because we believe it will continue to improve; be it software, dreamdrive, etc. But will this change if they need to be bailed out? I've see a few GT's trade hands on bring a trailer for significantly less money than msrp for barely used examples making me think there are more people like me worrying about this possible future.

I'd love to hear different viewpoints as this is just my initial thoughts.

 

[Ksa23]

There are a lot of threads on this, but Ill just say.. I don't think Lucid will even approach bankruptcy. It's been a venture company for many years now, and it wouldn't be abandoned after production is finally ramping. All the institutional and government investors always look at the 10/15/20 year timeline. The stock looks doodoo right now for sure, but that also attracts new investors who see an even better deal and long term return. When in doubt, zoom out, and you'll see Lucid is only -12% overall. Not bad compared to the rest of the market. It does hurt to see it fall and fall, though.

IMO, Even if Lucid went bankrupt and sold for pennies on the dollar, their patents and technology would be scooped up by another auto maker that would continue the Lucid brand.

The Air is an amazing vehicle.. I wouldn't call it "unfinished". It has some minor rough edges, though.

Just remember.. any CEO named Elon also benefits from negative Lucid headlines.

 

[borski]

However, I think we can all admit that the current air isn't a finished product but that we are all in it because we believe it will continue to improve; be it software, dreamdrive, etc.

We do not agree on this. Most owners are extremely happy with their cars; the original deliveries were very lacking in the software department, but that is generally no longer the case. There are some features it lacks, but that’s to be expected.

DreamDrive is on par with most other ADAS systems today on the highway, at least for me.

 

[Ksa23]

We do not agree on this. Most owners are extremely happy with their cars; the original deliveries were very lacking in the software department, but that is generally no longer the case. There are some features it lacks, but that’s to be expected.

DreamDrive is on par with most other ADAS systems today on the highway, at least for me.

I agree with this as an owner. Highway Assist has some room for improvement, but even in its current state, matches most other vehicles. Otherwise everything else about the Air is next-level and more than makes up for some of the small inconveniences.

 

[Bus Driver]

There are a lot of threads on this, but Ill just say.. I don't think Lucid will even approach bankruptcy. It's been a venture company for many years now, and it wouldn't be abandoned after production is finally ramping. All the institutional and government investors always look at the 10/15/20 year timeline. The stock looks doodoo right now for sure, but that also attracts new investors who see an even better deal and long term return. When in doubt, zoom out, and you'll see Lucid is only -12% overall. Not bad compared to the rest of the market. It does hurt to see it fall and fall, though.

IMO, Even if Lucid went bankrupt and sold for pennies on the dollar, their patents and technology would be scooped up by another auto maker that would continue the Lucid brand.

The Air is an amazing vehicle.. I wouldn't call it "unfinished". It has some minor rough edges, though.

Just remember.. any CEO named Elon also benefits from negative Lucid headlines.

Any CEO named Elon needs to put a sock in it.

This evening I went out of my way and drove 4.5 hours on what is normally a 2 hour drive, to meet and shake the hand of CEO/CTO, Peter Rawlinson. I was happy to do it and I felt truly privileged to be in Rawlinson’s company, even for just a few minutes.

If I ever had the misfortune of running into Elon Musk, I’d need to take a long hot shower, and soap myself all over twice.

 

[deepakb]

If a competitor is saying the company will go bankrupt, should we take his word or think if he is afraid of the competition? Tesla went through similar fate in its initial years - refer here - https://www.mosaic.tech/post/tesla-from-brink-of-bankruptcy-twice-to-worlds-most-valuable-automaker. If the worry is about stock, then below picture shows how TSLA fared even after 10 years in existence. What Lucid has as a product is exponentially better than what tesla had in the beginning years and i hoping it will only get better.

 

[ac.bill]

... and Elon's recent comments about lucid's future. ...

Musk is intentionally attempting to interfere with Lucid's end of year sales push. On this same forum you can find people anxiously waiting for their cars.
Musk was "doomsaying" the end of Lucid, but Lucid has funding in place for the 2023 year. It is normal for startups to raise more cash several times in their first years.
Musk is a master of social media marketing, insofar as he can get his fans to post anything he wants all over the internet.
Too tired to go into financial details tonight. just know that Lucid faces the normal difficulties of a growing company, but not imminent failure.
Elon is pushing what the Tesla people call "FUD" (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt). It is a propaganda and manipulation technique.
Tesla fans like Teslarati (they wrote the article Elon replied to in a tweet) and Musk himself have no inside knowledge of Lucid Motors. They have a strong motivation to convince people that Lucid is somehow bad or failing.

You might find it interesting to look up old posts by Montana Skeptic, a poster on Twitter and Seeking Alpha who said about Tesla the exact same words (going bankrupt, burning cash, can't produce...) that musk and his followers say about Lucid today. Some of Montana Skeptic's old posts may be hard to find because Elon & fans got Montana banned from Twitter

 

[RedwoodEmpire]

As an GT owner, I'm not trying to be negative or a troll but I wanted to see what others think about an issue I worry about. We are all probably aware of the financial situation of lucid and other electric car companies not named Tesla including the recent post about lucid's attempts to save reservation cancellations and Elon's recent comments about lucid's future. My worry is what happens if lucid does run out of money? I know it is backed by Saudi sovereign wealth fund so much better chance it will survive so that is reassuring. However, I think we can all admit that the current air isn't a finished product but that we are all in it because we believe it will continue to improve; be it software, dreamdrive, etc. But will this change if they need to be bailed out? I've see a few GT's trade hands on bring a trailer for significantly less money than msrp for barely used examples making me think there are more people like me worrying about this possible future.

I'd love to hear different viewpoints as this is just my initial thoughts.

The sleep on the factory floor "extremely hardcore" guy is now the same guy that is commenting about LCID's every cancellation is a failure/EOY push. Wouldn't he push his employees to do the same? In fact, he has. When I tried to cancel my Model X 90D because the 100D was imminently coming (P100D was already released), I was called repeatedly by my local studio rep and his manager to try to change my mind and told that "Tesla had no intentions of releasing a 100D and that 90D was my best bet." Doesn't this sound like every cancellation is a failure?

 

[Cosmo Cruz]

" What happens to Saudi Arabia when they run out of oil ? "

They build Lucids.

 

[Lucken]

As an GT owner, I'm not trying to be negative or a troll but I wanted to see what others think about an issue I worry about. We are all probably aware of the financial situation of lucid and other electric car companies not named Tesla including the recent post about lucid's attempts to save reservation cancellations and Elon's recent comments about lucid's future. My worry is what happens if lucid does run out of money? I know it is backed by Saudi sovereign wealth fund so much better chance it will survive so that is reassuring. However, I think we can all admit that the current air isn't a finished product but that we are all in it because we believe it will continue to improve; be it software, dreamdrive, etc. But will this change if they need to be bailed out? I've see a few GT's trade hands on bring a trailer for significantly less money than msrp for barely used examples making me think there are more people like me worrying about this possible future.

I'd love to hear different viewpoints as this is just my initial thoughts.

The financial well-being of Lucid has certainly crossed my mind more than once. Certainly the Saudi backing is critical, but I suppose it’s always possible they’ll lose interest if they don’t see the return on their investment after some period of time. This was certainly one of the reasons I’ve been in no rush with my Pure reservation that’s coming up on 2 years in January. If that were to happen, everything that might follow is pure conjecture.

The other thing that worries me a bit, and perhaps some here can comment on it, is the Lucid used car market. After reading another thread where the poster commented on this issue, I decided to look for myself. My concern was not the price hit these cars have taken, but rather the sheer number of used Lucids on the market. Honestly, I was more than a bit surprised given the low volume of cars produced thus far.

Do others feel the ratio of used Lucids already on the market to total production thus far is typical or atypical? Were many of these spec owners thinking they’d make a quick killing from impatient reservation holders or were they owners with issues with their cars who simply gave up?

 

[DBV]

Any CEO named Elon needs to put a sock in it.

This evening I went out of my way and drove 4.5 hours on what is normally a 2 hour drive, to meet and shake the hand of CEO/CTO, Peter Rawlinson. I was happy to do it and I felt truly privileged to be in Rawlinson’s company, even for just a few minutes.

If I ever had the misfortune of running into Elon Musk, I’d need to take a long hot shower, and soap myself all over twice.

Glad you got to meet him, that is awesome. I would love to meet Elon too, as think is such a creative guy. Unorthodox, but truly has vision and no one can deny that.

I remember meeting the CEO of Saab (as I loved Saab’s), purchased their newest 9-5 and then shortly after they were bankrupt and gone. That was not a good feeling and I got rid of my car shortly there after and went back to BMW.

Love the Lucid Air looks and still have my order in, so definitely hope they make it, but it does scare me if they will survive, when there are so few that can afford a $100k car and the market place is getting extremely competitive very soon with a lot more choices. Sure hope they do, but they need something else once all these preorders are done to keep them going.

 

[JerseyStrong]

Elon is of course trash talking his competition. I don’t think there is any doubt that the slow start-up of production and Lucid’s own production he’ll hurt. Other than the earliest adopters, aome folks simply ran out of wait time. They put in reservations a year or more ago to replace a car and they simply could not sustain the wait. Add to that the struggles with the economy and the loss of the federal tax credit for most Pure buyers and I am not surprised that many have had to bail. Most of the online driving reviews are overwhelmingly positive. They took a hit when the software problems and cars bricking were played up by some articles but of course they don’t do a follow-up when it is fixed. I am hanging in with my reservation because I think they have a future.

 

[Adnillien]

The Lucid operations team seems fairly confident in hitting their Q4 production numbers. I hope they can continue to ramp into 2023 before the expansion comes online in Q3.

 

[chinesejpl]

We do not agree on this. Most owners are extremely happy with their cars; the original deliveries were very lacking in the software department, but that is generally no longer the case. There are some features it lacks, but that’s to be expected.

DreamDrive is on par with most other ADAS systems today on the highway, at least for me.

Except I don't have dream drive in Canada

 

[chinesejpl]

Thanks for you opinion. As I drive the air more I appreciate it more and more as well. It is a very well built car for an inital iteration and I was fully prepared when I purchased it that this was a start up. I am hoping for the best outcome as I do think lucid is the only real company that can directly rival telsa. The legacy makers are focusing on building "better" cars than tesla but I find tesla's main advantage is their tech (ie the OTA upgrades by legacy makers are not even remotely similar to what tesla and lucid provide)

 

[Lax]

I am wondering how many Lucid owners put more than 10,000 miles on their cars. I am from Chicago and yesterday I attended the Holiday event hosted by Lucid in goose Island. I have more than 10,000miles on my car and there I met a guy from Wisconsin that has 11,000 miles on his Lucid.

I am very happy with my GT and it is best car I ever had in many respects. I met the CFO and they are all very confident about the future of Lucid

 

[HariK]

Remember that Elon Tweeted that for $420 he will take the company private with funding from Saudi Arabia which decided instead to see the light and fund Lucid? I guess Elon has been itching to get back at Lucid even more because he is grudgingly admitting that he should not have removed the sensors but added more for even reliable ADAS Level 2. I am rooting for Model Y killer to sell in enough volumes to hit Elon reallly hard. Apparently the demand in China fell and he cut production there already. Hope GM equinox totally destroys Tesla in the low end market all over the world at $30k MSRP 300 miles.

 

[HC_79]

It’s funny how Elon didn’t like people/media speculating about Tesla and got quite annoyed by it at times and bit back. Now that Tesla has weathered the storm he’s doing the exact same thing which makes him a hypocrite.

Lucid doesn’t seem to be taking the bait and responding so for now, it seems they don’t seem to phased by it. Most times, if “rumors” are true a companies PR department goes into damage control to spin the story in a positive way. Lucid’s silence is telling.

 

[EVCar]

Remember that Elon Tweeted that for $420 he will take the company private with funding from Saudi Arabia which decided instead to see the light and fund Lucid? I guess Elon has been itching to get back at Lucid even more because he is grudgingly admitting that he should not have removed the sensors but added more for even reliable ADAS Level 2. I am rooting for Model Y killer to sell in enough volumes to hit Elon reallly hard. Apparently the demand in China fell and he cut production there already. Hope GM equinox totally destroys Tesla in the low end market all over the world at $30k MSRP 300 miles.

China market is tough. Supposedly, the EQS now has a 30K discount over there.

 

[idiot900]

Certainly the Saudi backing is critical, but I suppose it’s always possible they’ll lose interest if they don’t see the return on their investment after some period of time.

The Saudis are building a gigantic ridiculous colony in the desert because they are in some sense looking to the very long term to diversify out of dependence on oil. They've been buying in foreign researchers for years now to a university (KAUST) they conjured up out of nothing just for this purpose. I think Lucid is part of this: they don't want to be left behind as the world moves on from oil for personal transportation - a process which will take decades. It would be reasonable for the PIF to wait until the Gravity has proven itself, or not, to bail.