What's new
By:

No more Model S/X production

I love this forum - look how far we got from the original post. I think we have come close to solving America's problems!

Have a great weekend, everyone!
 
joec said:
It’s worth noting thus far, unlike many other brands, Lucid has actually hit their entry price number. So I’m confident an actual $49,999 midsize will be sold.

Whether or not anyone will want that model is another story. But I have every confidence you will be able to drive midsize for that price.

I expect a high-end fully loaded midsize to be somewhere in the $80k range. Depending on how badly Lucid wants to continue to be thought of as a luxury brand. We have zero knowledge of what will be offered as options. I’m holding out hope for similar features to Air, including massage seats, heating and cooling seats and wheel, etc. We’ll see.
Click to expand...
So will they launch the top spec $80k Grand Touring version first? In my opinion that would be a mistake. Deliver at the $50k number first to show you can keep your promise, get buyers in the door, then roll out the top trims later. They haven’t done this yet with Air or Gravity so let’s see if they will with the mass market car.
 
Leftlane said:
So will they launch the top spec $80k Grand Touring version first? In my opinion that would be a mistake. Deliver at the $50k number first to show you can keep your promise, get buyers in the door, then roll out the top trims later. They haven’t done this yet with Air or Gravity so let’s see if they will with the mass market car.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, the best move for automakers is to release the highest priced cars first. Here's a couple reasons:
1) Highest price is typically the highest profit, and Lucid can use the money.
2) Highest price typically has the lowest demand, and Lucid will need time to ramp up production.
 
Smorgasbord said:
Unfortunately, the best move for automakers is to release the highest priced cars first. Here's a couple reasons:
1) Highest price is typically the highest profit, and Lucid can use the money.
2) Highest price typically has the lowest demand, and Lucid will need time to ramp up production.
Click to expand...
Exactly. Offering fully contented models first also allows the automaker to exercise more of the supply chain systems and manufacturing / assembly systems at controllable volume levels. The worst thing would be to get to second wave of product release and find out that there are issues with the 21-way power seats or installing the glass canopy. Trying to address and adjust in the midst of production volume ramp up can become an exercise in 3 dimensional chess.
 
Not to mention the burden on service centers, customer care, when you sell too many cars out of the gate.

Lucid can’t keep up with service now with just Gravity and Air. If they sell a boatload of midsize out of the gate, and there’s even just one problem that plagues the majority of cars, they are screwed.

The market will understand if it takes a while to get down to the $50k model. I don’t think it’ll take too long, in any case. They were selling Pure pretty quickly with Air, and it took even less time to ship Touring with Gravity.

But I agree they will want to ship the fully-loaded models first. For at least 3-6 months.
 
With the PIF backstop the last thing Lucid needs is money - people who need/want the car but aren’t willing to pay top dollar for the high spec versions will go elsewhere and not wait around. In this market it would be smart to bring out the Earth and have all trim levels available right off the bat, especially when you know the R2 is coming soon, along with plenty of other choices in that ballpark.

Also - if the top trim comes in at $80k, why not just go Gravity? Have trims levels at 50k, 60k, 70k - then you are covered all the way up to $120k with choices.

What do I know - other than Lucid has to stick the landing perfectly, and if they still have the common issues on an $80k version of a car that was promised/marketed as the $50k version, it will crush them.
 
Leftlane said:
With the PIF backstop the last thing Lucid needs is money - people who need/want the car but aren’t willing to pay top dollar for the high spec versions will go elsewhere and not wait around. In this market it would be smart to bring out the Earth and have all trim levels available right off the bat, especially when you know the R2 is coming soon, along with plenty of other choices in that ballpark.

Also - if the top trim comes in at $80k, why not just go Gravity? Have trims levels at 50k, 60k, 70k - then you are covered all the way up to $120k with choices.

What do I know - other than Lucid has to stick the landing perfectly, and if they still have the common issues on an $80k version of a car that was promised/marketed as the $50k version, it will crush them.
Click to expand...

Why not go Gravity? Because not everyone wants or needs a giant vehicle.

I’d much rather have a fully loaded midsize for my needs than a stripped down Gravity.

But that’s why having the choice is a good thing. Agreed.

The reason not to open up all trims at once was already stated. Lucid will not get it perfect at launch. No one does. Better to screw up a handful of cars than thousands. And scale up your service at the same time in a sane way.

Lucid will need not only a boatload of new techs. They will also need to train their current techs on a new model. That’s no small feat.
Also, if you offer midsize at $50k you are literally throwing away profit from those who would pay extra not to wait. As a shareholder, I’d have a pretty big bone to pick with that strategy.
 
I guess we’ll see - they need way better than Air or Gravity sales numbers with the midsize and the most expensive versions limit your market significantly. Only time will tell but plenty of people on this very forum bitched about having to wait to get the lower cost versions for Air and Gravity.
 
Until robotaxi is cheaper and better than uber, why would someone choose it other than novelty. They won’t.
 
Leftlane said:
With the PIF backstop the last thing Lucid needs is money - people who need/want the car but aren’t willing to pay top dollar for the high spec versions will go elsewhere and not wait around. In this market it would be smart to bring out the Earth and have all trim levels available right off the bat, especially when you know the R2 is coming soon, along with plenty of other choices in that ballpark.

Also - if the top trim comes in at $80k, why not just go Gravity? Have trims levels at 50k, 60k, 70k - then you are covered all the way up to $120k with choices.

What do I know - other than Lucid has to stick the landing perfectly, and if they still have the common issues on an $80k version of a car that was promised/marketed as the $50k version, it will crush them.
Click to expand...
I have no interest in the Gravity as it is too large of a car for my needs. I would love a midsize car. I have no problem with 80K for a midisze. In fact, it's a bargain compared to my air GT. I'm sure there are others out there that don't mind paying a premium price for a smaller Lucid that has the same luxury, comfort, acceleration, braking, and handling as my AGT.
 
WildRide47 said:
I have no interest in the Gravity as it is too large of a car for my needs. I would love a midsize car. I have no problem with 80K for a midisze. In fact, it's a bargain compared to my air GT. I'm sure there are others out there that don't mind paying a premium price for a smaller Lucid that has the same luxury, comfort, acceleration, braking, and handling as my AGT.
Click to expand...
Same here. Air and Gravity are too big for my needs. I'm also the kind of person that prefers something "lower" on a tier that has full specs than taking something "higher" on the tiers but barely equipped
 
joec said:
Why not go Gravity? Because not everyone wants or needs a giant vehicle.

I’d much rather have a fully loaded midsize for my needs than a stripped down Gravity.

But that’s why having the choice is a good thing. Agreed.

The reason not to open up all trims at once was already stated. Lucid will not get it perfect at launch. No one does. Better to screw up a handful of cars than thousands. And scale up your service at the same time in a sane way.

Lucid will need not only a boatload of new techs. They will also need to train their current techs on a new model. That’s no small feat.
Also, if you offer midsize at $50k you are literally throwing away profit from those who would pay extra not to wait. As a shareholder, I’d have a pretty big bone to pick with that strategy.
Click to expand...
And to have a minimal number of combinations to make inevitable troubleshooting as straight-forward as possible.
 
Leftlane said:
I guess we’ll see - they need way better than Air or Gravity sales numbers with the midsize and the most expensive versions limit your market significantly. Only time will tell but plenty of people on this very forum bitched about having to wait to get the lower cost versions for Air and Gravity.
Click to expand...
You are acting as if Lucid doesn’t sell 2 million midsize on day one that the whole company will fold.

You are setting yourself up for a world of disappointment. That’s simply not going to happen. It would lead to disaster if it did.

Slow and steady wins the race. Sell more this quarter than you did last quarter. And above all, make customers happy.
 
Need4Sleep said:
Same here. Air and Gravity are too big for my needs. I'm also the kind of person that prefers something "lower" on a tier that has full specs than taking something "higher" on the tiers but barely equipped
Click to expand...
I completely understand, and even somewhat agree, but it hasn't worked that way in automotive for decades.
BMW killed the 2-door 6-series years ago.
GM did release the Vistiq as pretty equivalent, luxury-wise, to the Escalade IQ (and IQL!), but Vistiq is till pretty big.
Yeah, you can get a 2-door Corvette instead of a 2-door Miata. Maybe this is the exception that proves the rule?
 
Smorgasbord said:
istiq as pretty equivalent, luxury-wise, to the Escalade IQ (and IQL!), but Vistiq is till pretty big.
Yeah, you can get a 2-door Corvette instead of a 2-door Miata. Maybe this is the exception tha
Click to expand...
I'm not talking within the realm of coupés or any other 2-doors. I'm talking about practical everyday vehicles, like a compact sedan vs midsize sedan, compact crossover vs midsize crossover. etc.
 
Smorgasbord said:
Unfortunately, the best move for automakers is to release the highest priced cars first. Here's a couple reasons:
1) Highest price is typically the highest profit, and Lucid can use the money.
2) Highest price typically has the lowest demand, and Lucid will need time to ramp up production.
Click to expand...
Exactly. The S class exists to sell the E and C class.
 
joec said:
are setting yourself up for a world of disappointment. That’s simply not going to happen. It would lead to disaster if it did.
Click to expand...
Exactly! Especially while losing money on every vehicle. They don’t even have support network to service those.

I think we will see something like Teslas trajectory. Give it…ten years or so.
 
Need4Sleep said:
I'm not talking within the realm of coupés or any other 2-doors. I'm talking about practical everyday vehicles, like a compact sedan vs midsize sedan, compact crossover vs midsize crossover. etc.
Click to expand...
Can you cite a compact sedan or crossover that's high on the premium/luxury side of things?
And if so, how well is it selling?
 
Cadillac introduced the Lyric first, then Vistiq, then the Escalade EV. Get people into the brand, then convince them to trade up for the latest and greatest. That was the entire rationale behind GM in the first place. The S Class exists to intro all the latest and greatest tech that trickles down, but MB would love for you to buy a C class, then upgrade to an E, then finally into an S - making a lifetime customer with multiple purchases.

Lucid doesn’t have that option and the way they have rolled out so far has limited their market right from the start. How many people do you know who bought the top line trim of anything and then downgraded later? If the reason they aren’t ready to sell more is because they can’t support it with service…..oof.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top