Lucid is about to join the league of American automakers with factories abroad, as its Saudi Arabian production center will go live next month. This is a breath of fresh air for the EV startup, beset by a price war with Tesla for the better part of 2023.
Maal, an Arabic publication, gave the latest update on Lucid’s AMP-2 factory in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) in Jeddah. The facility is scheduled for its first production in September 2023, a month away. The plant will receive all the parts of the Air from the AMP-1 Arizona plant and assemble the cars, with the first deliveries for the Saudi Arabian government set to take place before the end of the year.
Lucid targets an annual run rate of 150,000 units by 2026. To help along, Saudi Arabia has prepared an incentive package worth about $3 billion for the plant. The Kingdom is going further by agreeing to purchase 100,000 EVs from the company in ten years. Saudi Arabia is a majority investor in Lucid.
#لوسيد لـ “مال”: إفتتاح مصنع السيارات في #السعودية الشهر المقبل .. وسنبدأ بتسليم سياراتنا للجهات الحكومية خلال هذا العام https://t.co/SZbbiiT2rC pic.twitter.com/yFZN4FTysH
— صحيفة مال (@Maaalnews) August 7, 2023
Lucid reported a disappointing Q2 2023 with 2,173 EVs produced in Arizona while delivering 1,404 units from April to June. The company initially targeted to build 14,000 units for 2023 from their production facility in Casa Grande, Arizona, but slashed it to 10,000. It is also struggling to drum up interest in its luxury EV, leading to expanding inventory levels.
One of the measures taken by Lucid to move more units is slashing prices to remain competitive.
