Luxury electric vehicle maker Lucid Group
said late Thursday that it produced 2,314 of its Air sedans in the first quarter. But it delivered just 1,406 Airs to customers during the period, another sign that the company is seeing weaker-than-expected demand.
Wall Street analysts polled by FactSet had expected Lucid to deliver about 2,000 Airs in the first quarter. Lucid’s shares were down over 3% in after-hours trading following the news.
Lucid surprised Wall Street in February when it said that it planned to build just 10,000 to 14,000 Airs in 2023, despite having “over 28,000” reservations in hand. At the time, CEO Peter Rawlinson said that he believed “too few people are aware” of the company and its award-winning, but expensive, electric sedan – a hint that the company may have been struggling to convert reservations to sold orders.
Another hint that demand for the Air may be weak came late in March, when Lucid cut 1,300 workers, or about 18% of its workforce. The company is expected to take a one-time charge of between $24 million and $30 million for those layoffs, most of it in the first quarter.
Lucid said on Thursday that it will report its first-quarter results after the U.S. markets close on May 8.
