Lucid has over 25k Air reservations and is buying a ~$2M 30 second spot on the Oscars?

[Rob Stark]

So, Lucid has over 25K reservations and is hoping to deliver 12k-14k vehicles this year.

It appears to me it has 12 to 18 months of demand on the books.

Isn't the point of ads to generate demand?

More reservations will mean more frustrated and angry customers not getting their cars soon.

And locking them in to current prices before a potential price increase.

Lucid Motors Drives to Oscars as Many Car Advertisers Stay Away

One of the automobile sector’s newest players is making a big bet on the Oscars at a time when many other car manufacturers are staying away from the glitzy event. Lucid Motors, a manufacturer of luxury electric vehicles that believes it can compete with traditional auto companies like...

www.yahoo.com

 

[Mountain Man]

I bet this is to generate interest in the stock…

 

[hydbob]

Lucid can't win with regards to advertising. One group says why aren't they advertising and the other group is saying to save money. Then it flips and then the fiscally responsible group says why are they wasting money! I think it's okay, they probably feel like they can get more reservations for the GT this way or they are able to ramp up production. Either way, at some point gotta spend money to make money and Lucid will not succeed with the Tesla model of word of mouth only.

 

[DeaneG]

I'm guessing that a small fraction of those 25K reservations are converting into immediate sales. And maybe not enough of them are high-margin GT sales.

 

[Rob Stark]

I'm guessing that a small fraction of those 25K reservations are converting into immediate sales. And maybe not enough of them are high-margin GT sales.

I highly doubt a small fraction are converting to orders. There are angry reservation holders all over the EV forums not getting their car.

So you think the plan is to push off making Pures indefinitely ?

 

[hydbob]

The other thing the article mentions is actors who have an Air. Put it this way, they are building a luxury brand, what's more luxury than the Oscar's which is all glitz and glam and movie stars. The image of movie stars driving Lucids to me is VERY appealing to build brand recognition.

I know that Orlando Bloom/Katy Perry have an Air as well as Josh Lucas.

 

[HC_79]

Lucid can't win with regards to advertising. One group says why aren't they advertising and the other group is saying to save money. Then it flips and then the fiscally responsible group says why are they wasting money! I think it's okay, they probably feel like they can get more reservations for the GT this way or they are able to ramp up production. Either way, at some point gotta spend money to make money and Lucid will not succeed with the Tesla model of word of mouth only.

I’m glad they’re doing some advertising and agree with you. They can’t survive on word of mouth

 

[DeaneG]

...So you think the plan is to push off making Pures indefinitely ?

Just thinking they may wish they had more orders for GTs.

 

[MorganB]

I wonder what percentage of orders actually converts to sales? I think it’s about building brand awareness. Most people have never heard of Lucid Motors.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

They need to increase brand awareness. Since reserving my car, out of the 10-15 people I told about it, only two already knew what Lucid was. Everyone knows Tesla, very very few people outside of auto enthusiasts and EV enthusiasts know who Lucid is.

 

[CLTGT]

Need to increase awareness at the right time though. I am not saying that isn’t now, but timing means a lot. The last thing you want to do is say to the world “look at me, research Lucid” and have people see any comments that might have them say “I will wait and look at them in a couple years when they have these kinks worked out”.. They will forget about Lucid over that couple of years. People will be much more comfortable if they see that some of the basic functions that might not have initially been there have been added or improved. We were over at some friends’ house last night nd they just got a brand new Tesla. They had no clue who Lucid was.

Betting on the Oscars might be OK if you are fine with an ever shrinking audience of (generally) like-minded people. I have not watched it in years and refuse to do so, too political and I really have an issue with people patting themselves on the back and saying look at me. But Lucid can and should spend their money where they perceive they might get the biggest bang for their buck. I would have thought the Final Four would hit more of their target audience though, but what do I know? I am a finance guy.

 

[Bunnylebowski]

Yeah I actually used to work in the film industry and have many colleagues who have been to the ceremony or won, and couldn’t agree more, it’s an obnoxious self congratulatory gluttony fest and only really for hard core film enthusiasts, in fact many academy members have recently resigned because the live broadcast won’t include several categories now. But just as a Tesla was the status symbol for Hollywood people 10 years ago, it’s not a bad idea to target that same demographic for the moment, but also increasing visibility through many other advertising venues. Rawlinson himself said he realizes it’s an “aspirational” vehicle for most people, but I think once they get closer to Pure production they could really make a big push to expand awareness. To be fair almost zero people I know are aware of the Mercedes EQS/EQE either, right now people only seem to know about the Leaf and poor range/slow charging, Bolt (cuz it caught fire) and Tesla.

 

[Sandvinsd]

I wonder what percentage of orders actually converts to sales? I think it’s about building brand awareness. Most people have never heard of Lucid Motors.

Brand awareness will increase when the actually deliver cars to the 25k reservation holers and they are seen on the road. That is the best advertising they can get!

 

[niceguy]

So, Lucid has over 25K reservations and is hoping to deliver 12k-14k vehicles this year.

It appears to me it has 12 to 18 months of demand on the books.

Isn't the point of ads to generate demand?

More reservations will mean more frustrated and angry customers not getting their cars soon.

And locking them in to current prices before a potential price increase.

Lucid Motors Drives to Oscars as Many Car Advertisers Stay Away

One of the automobile sector’s newest players is making a big bet on the Oscars at a time when many other car manufacturers are staying away from the glitzy event. Lucid Motors, a manufacturer of luxury electric vehicles that believes it can compete with traditional auto companies like...

www.yahoo.com

Ads in major events like this creates brand recognition and buzz, it’s essential for future sales not right away, Lucid is wise to start promotio for their cars now if they want to grow

 

[DJ@SJ]

Ads in major events like this creates brand recognition and buzz, it’s essential for future sales not right away, Lucid is wise to start promotio for their cars now if they want to grow

Another way to look at this matter: if everyone sees the time being right with making Ads and growing brand awareness, it would actually be too late.

 

[MPawelek]

I noticed today several commercials touting the newly designed Mercedes AMG SL though there are none available for sale and no one even knows the price yet….

 

[copper]

• Lucid has been aggressively advertising for a while now. They're really pushing hard on top-of-funnel digital channels and getting better at it, though they still need to do some work on targeting and creative optimization. I would expect many more headline media buys like the Oscars, but those will be a drop in the bucket compared to rest of their media mix.
• Even with 25k reservations, you have to keep filling the pipeline. To reach their growth goals they'll need to aggressively market, especially for a premium high-consideration product like a car. They want to produce 90k cars/year - this won't happen overnight and requires ramping up growth efforts constantly.
• Top-of-funnel advertising to create demand can be highly efficient at scale, especially in luxury. While the Oscars are not where I'd place the budget (I've always shunned headline events like the oscars for my budgets), it can be effective with a broad reach for high-HHI households. It just takes a lot of time to get results.
• There's also less mindshare competition during the Oscars this year, which means it is easier to maintain recognition after viewing. For example: super bowl is often saturated with cars and as a result will barely move the needle. Better to focus where you stand out instead of getting lost in the noise.

 

[Rob Stark]

Lucid has more than enough demand right now.

And yes putting Airs in garages will generate more orders. Because they are fantastic cars. Friends/family of owners will see them and experience them. And want them.

In order to grow they need more production. The bottleneck to growth is not reservations.

I am all in favor of paid advertising. When you need more demand. When you see a demand pocket in 3-6 months.

I doubt people reserve Lucids willy nilly like Cybertrucks.

You have to be somewhat of an ev nerd or auto enthusiast to know about Lucid.

I think there is a high conversion rate vs mainstream BEVs with $100 fully refundable reservations.

 

[Rob Stark]

Just thinking they may wish they had more orders for GTs.

I guess they can always wish for that.

Don't know how efficient it is to pay $2M/30s spot in generating $140k orders.

 

[Maverick]

@Rob Stark Not that it's a prerequisite by any stretch to have one, but I'm curious as to whether you have one reserved yourself.