Road & Track: Who The Hell Is Going to Buy a Lucid?

[Charley]

I'm 69 years old and bought a Dream. What lured me in was the 1111hp and I'm so glad it did. I have a 2021 911 Turbo S that is a absolute bullet but not near as smooth as the Dream. I have old Nascars for track day cars but working on them these days wears out my body so I haven't had them on the track in probably 5 years. If Lucid will come out with a 2 door rocket ship I'll buy one of those also. Losing my ass on the Lucid stock I bought but might buy more as I think the Saudi money will help them prosper. What a fun time to be in the car world.

 

[CLTGT]

I do not disagree with any of the above, but let us not forget it was Lucid/Peter who announced a delay last year of months to "get the car right". That was a quote from him after taking a drive with a PE guy involved in the deal. I am not sure what may have been wrong when Lucid made that statement and announced that delay over a year ago, but it should not just be brushed under the rug, so to speak.

 

[hydbob]

I do not disagree with any of the above, but let us not forget it was Lucid/Peter who announced a delay last year of months to "get the car right". That was a quote from him after taking a drive with a PE guy involved in the deal. I am not sure what may have been wrong when Lucid made that statement and announced that delay over a year ago, but it should not just be brushed under the rug, so to speak.

People keep bringing up the delay, but from what it seems, it honestly feels like he was focusing on the driving experience and not the software side of things. Remember, Peter's history and his multiple statements regarding the cars driving nature. I don't think getting it right was ever about the user interface, but mainly about the driving experience, which so far is the best from many accounts.

 

[CLTGT]

I would have assumed those are separate teams. Either way, they had 6+ months they did not plan on to refine driving experience, which should include software quite honestly, production, etc. That delay should have benefited every aspect of the product. The people focusing on the pure driving mechanics appear to have really taken advantage of that time. Others, maybe not so much or maybe they really had issues present themselves that could only have come up at the point they did?

Peter may have been focusing on the driving experience, but he is CEO and the buck stops with him for every other department as well. The software though should be the easiest to fix through OTA, so if he could only focus on one area (and not rely of his team in others), I guess he focused in the right area. I really wonder what that car was like that he drove in those early videos that came out when he announced the delay?

 

[manitou202]

Peter just cashed in $160MM of his stock...some folks would't have the same fire in the belly after---some wouldn't even come to work!

You need to stop reading the Tesla fanboy sites.

Peter didn't cash out $160MM of his stock. He had RSUs (restricted stock units) which are part of his compensation. These are extremely common for directors and above at large corporations. RSU's typically vest over 1-3 years. When they vest, about 40% of the shares are automatically sold to cover the income tax burden. He had no choice in the matter. February and March are the most common time of year for RSU's to vest. My wife and I go through the same thing every year as part of our compensation.

So Peter didn't just "cash out" a bunch of stock. If anything he held onto the remaining 60% of his shares because he believes they will go up in value.

 

[Dortreo]

I would have assumed those are separate teams. Either way, they had 6+ months they did not plan on to refine driving experience, which should include software quite honestly, production, etc. That delay should have benefited every aspect of the product. The people focusing on the pure driving mechanics appear to have really taken advantage of that time. Others, maybe not so much or maybe they really had issues present themselves that could only have come up at the point they did?

Peter may have been focusing on the driving experience, but he is CEO and the buck stops with him for every other department as well. The software though should be the easiest to fix through OTA, so if he could only focus on one area (and not rely of his team in others), I guess he focused in the right area. I really wonder what that car was like that he drove in those early videos that came out when he announced the delay?

It's all a guess, but which scenario do you think was more likely?

- The software was in worse condition at the beginning of 2021, and Lucid did what they could to improve it prior to a Q4 DE launch
- The software was in the essentially the same condition at the beginning of 2021 and at the end of 2021, and Lucid chose to ignore this department completely

One other thing: Software isn't just the UX. It's also the code that underlies things like steering, engines, brakes, battery, etc. And all that appears to be working flawlessly. So, I think it's fair to say that Lucid launched with no systemic defects in hardware or critical operating software but with plenty of bugs and issues with UX software. That's a fine trade-off for an earlier launch.

 

[HC_79]

You need to stop reading the Tesla fanboy sites.

Peter didn't cash out $160MM of his stock. He had RSUs (restricted stock units) which are part of his compensation. These are extremely common for directors and above at large corporations. RSU's typically vest over 1-3 years. When they vest, about 40% of the shares are automatically sold to cover the income tax burden. He had no choice in the matter. February and March are the most common time of year for RSU's to vest. My wife and I go through the same thing every year as part of our compensation.

So Peter didn't just "cash out" a bunch of stock. If anything he held onto the remaining 60% of his shares because he believes they will go up in value.

It's clickbait and everyone needs to do their own research to figure out the true story. It was reported on multiple sites and even Bear's Workshop was like "what do you think?". Like you said, if people would do some due diligence they would realize that this sale was normal and was actually reported well in advance and was to cover tax burden.

 

[Rob Stark]

Peter just cashed in $160MM of his stock...some folks would't have the same fire in the belly after---some wouldn't even come to work!

To pay taxes on his options which he could no longer delay exercising.

 

[borski]

To pay taxes on his options which he could no longer delay exercising.

Recently sold my company (in 2020) and left the acquirer (in Jan 2022) and received RSUs as part of the payment. I can confirm that RSUs are taxed as they vest, and as such there is *almost never* a reason to keep them rather than sell them; you’d be paying tax on cash you don’t have, so it’s better to sell and rebuy with the gains after reserving the cash to pay for the taxes, if you feel like it (though probably better to diversify once they’re sold, especially if you have overexposure still through future RSUs).

Basically, it’s your tax system at work and this is a complete non-story.

(This isn’t financial advice, I’m not a lawyer, etc etc)

 

[extesla]

I hadn't seen this before, but in another thread, we're discussing Lucid styling, and this article seems relevant... and very critical.

• "Lucid is jumping into the electric car market from the top shelf. They're entering the market with exactly zero name recognition, aiming for a segment that requires S-Class money while providing none of Mercedes's brand cache."
• "They insist wealthy consumers no longer look toward old-school opulence in their expensive vehicles. On the contrary, they say, the modern luxury shopper considers issues of environmental impact and sustainability foremost and wants the whole shebang wrapped in a sort of Steve-Jobs's-Turtleneck minimalism."
• "Back to Lucid then, and the essential question: If a Tesla already sends the right signal to your neighbors, accelerates faster than any ICE car, and does both at a lower price and with a more recognizable name than the Lucid, how will Lucid draw customers?"
• "This leads me to a more specific question: what consumer will pay S-Class money for a car that looks like Hyundai might've designed it?"
• "Still, I wonder. Who are these people spending $170,000 for a badass electric rocket that doesn't look or feel particularly futuristic anymore, shunning Mercedes, Porsche, Audi, Bentley, and yes, even Tesla, for a brand without name recognition?"

I drove Teslas for five years. First a Model S, then the X. While I enjoyed the cutting edge of both at the time, it was the experience with Tesla when having the car serviced. Also, Elon Musk continues to over promise and under deliver. My Model X did not come with full self-driving as I doubted it would become a reality for a long time. And, I was right.....

Lucid, to me, is a breath of fresh air. It looks, and feel, more like a luxury sedan of the kind I'd like to drive. I'm a reservation holder for the Touring, having made the reservation in August of 2021. Hopefully I'll have it before year end. Who knows.

I've enjoyed reading the experience of those who already have taken delivery of an Air, and all the questions/comments from both owners and reservation holders alike. I've had all the traditional luxury brands and have not desire to drive another at this time. If, and that's a BIG "if", they come out with something other than just and electrified version of their current lineup, maybe I'll consider them in the future. The EQS, to me, is just plain ugly. Personal opinion.

So, now, back to waiting to hear from Lucid when I might be able to test drive one, and finally place an order.