Well, sure. Now. Because they made the call and stuck with it. And they sell way more MacBooks now than they did in the early 2000s.
Either way, it's literally impossible to not have the logo be upside down sometimes. So they went with the version where the logo was right side up to the outsider while using it. I thought the version where it confused the actual owner of the laptop less was the better call, but I'm sure the marketing department prefers the current orientation, too.
This isn't the case on the side of a car. The logo doesn't move, so there's no fear it'll be upside down or backwards sometimes.
Agreed we are in the realm of opinion here. But the old graphic designer in me leans toward the pure interpretation of branding.
I still think if they want to do the whole "animal faces forward" thing, they would need to design an alternate mark that is designed to be flipped that way. The current bear, as it stands, is becoming a primary branding element for Lucid, and thus should remain intact.
Like I said at the beginning of this rant, I don't like the bear on the sides at all. I find it kills the clean lines of the car, and it clearly wasn't the original intention of the design team. It will forever look like what it is—a sticker on the side of your $100k+ luxury sedan.