Both customers and employees are eligible for significant discounts before year’s end.
Lucid Motors- Lucid Motors is trying to keep its existing customers and drum up employee orders by offering hefty discounts, as the total number of orders dropped to 34,000 in September.
- The company is offering a 10% discount for customers to reinstate lapsed orders; an $18,000 discount for employees who purchase a Grand Touring model before year’s end; and a 2.81% in-house financing rate for ready-made units.
- Production goals for 2022 were set at 7000 units, cut down from the original 14,000 figure quoted in February, but the company has only produced around 4000 units this year.
As the auto industry pivots toward electrification, the cost to produce electric vehicles remains high as compared to internal-combustion counterparts, a result of growing material costs and new manufacturing processes. That cost is baked into the retail price of every EV on the market today, with legacy manufacturers hoping to recoup costs from early adopters willing to pay upmarket prices. Startup EV manufacturers are largely betting on a different demographic: the affluent but anti-Tesla buyer. Or, in other words, a Lucid Air owner.
There can only be so many $100,000 EVs out there, and Lucid Motors jumped onto the electric luxury performance bandwagon a few years too late. At least that’s what it seems like, as the California-based EV manufacturer continues to move slowly through its backlog of 34,000 orders. Slow enough that the company appears hungry for cash now, as it offers discounts to customers who previously abandoned their orders.
Kent NishimuraGetty Images
Specifically, Lucid sent an email to customers with lapsed orders saying the company would reinstate these orders at the original legacy pricing of $139,000 for the Lucid Air Grand Touring, according to Barrons. That’s a 10% discount from the current pricing of $154,000. This same email claims that reinstated orders could be completed in a few weeks, as the company works to complete 7000 orders by the end of the year. For reference, Lucid had delivered less than 4000 units through the end of September.
It’s not just customers that the company is trying to keep. In fact, the brand has started an employee-purchase program, in which employees will receive an $18,000 discount on the Air Grand Touring model. If the purchasing employee is able to take delivery prior to Dec. 31, Lucid will inject an additional $500 every pay period until the total amount reaches $18,000, according to Business Insider.
Despite the slower-than-projected delivery rate, Lucid’s sales have been trending in the right direction, as the company website now features delivery-ready models. Incentivizing less choosy customers by offering a subsidized 2.81% annual interest rate through in-house financing isn’t too shabby either. With average car loan rates trending toward double digits, this straight-up low rate would amount to paying $15,000 less in interest.
Lucid’s Arizona factory is built on 500 acres leased by the county.
Lucid
In spite of this, it remains to be seen how many people truly have $150,000 to spare on a luxury EV, with overall economic and auto market trends indicating these customers are rare. While stock prices have fallen 54% in the last six months and the company is on track to burn through billions of production dollars, the true indicator of a positive investment from a consumer standpoint is the market value of the model.
Used sales on auction sites like Bring A Trailer show 2022 model-year Lucids with less than 500 miles selling for $118,000, while another identical unit with only 200 miles sold for $124,500. In other words, both sold for significantly less than the model costs coming out of the dealership.
As the company continues ramping up production at its Casa Grande, Arizona, factory and construction begins at its Saudi Arabia plant, the rate of deliveries should grow exponentially, increasing revenue by $3.2 billion, according to the company’s estimates. That number hinges on Lucid maintaining or adding to its 34,000 current orders, and the addition of advertisements on Instagram signals that Lucid is eager to do just that.
However, in a high-priced market dominated by Tesla, competitors are constantly in an uphill battle. As manufacturers work to make EVs more accessible, the price of Lucid’s Air sedan and the incoming Gravity SUV could make these models even more of an outlier in the future.
Emmet White Associate Editor A New York transplant hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Emmet White has a passion for anything that goes: cars, bicycles, planes, and motorcycles.
Keyword: Lucid Motors Offers Discounts as Demand Shrinks