Lucid Group Aims to Launch the First Saudi-Assembled Air EVs by September 2023

Lucid Group’s Air electric sedan is featuring prominently at the ongoing Saudi PIF Private Sector Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Given the gigantic financial backing that the Saudi sovereign wealth fund has bestowed on the nascent EV player, it is perhaps unsurprising that the event was chosen as an auspicious moment to announce a major development vis-à-vis Lucid Air EVs.

The Saudi PIF’s Private Sector Forum, currently ongoing in Four Seasons, Riyadh, aims to bring together private sector executives and representatives of companies that currently form a part of the sovereign wealth fund’s sizable portfolio.

At today’s session, the Global Vice President and Managing Director of Lucid Group, Faisal Sultan, announced that the first Saudi-assembled Air electric sedans would hit the road in September 2023.

Bear in mind that Lucid Group officially started delivering its electric vehicles in Saudi Arabia on the 01^st of January, 2023.

Lucid Group’s unique 900-volt-plus electrical architecture allows for efficient charging of its EVs. For instance, when paired with a 300-plus kW DC fast charger, the Lucid Air Grand Touring edition can add a whopping 400 km of range in just 15 minutes.

The Saudi PIF is, by far, the largest shareholder in Lucid Group. Toward the end of last year, as the company’s liquidity came under increasing pressure, the Ayar Third Investment Company, an affiliate of the Saudi PIF, participated in a private placement of shares, allowing Lucid Group an avenue to raise $915 million in additional funding.

Back in late January, rumors swirled that the Saudi PIF was planning to take Lucid Group private. However, no further development has materialized on this count.

Lucid Group’s AMP-1 facility in Casa Grande, Arizona, currently has a production capacity of 34,000 units per annum. The company is adding a second assembly line at the facility to handle the production of the Lucid Gravity SUV, which is expected to launch in 2024. Once the upgrade is complete, the facility’s annual production capacity will increase to 90,000 vehicles per year. Separately, Saudi Arabia recently awarded Lucid Group around $3 billion in incentives to establish a 155,000-units-per-year production facility in the Kingdom. The Saudis have also signed an agreement to purchase up to 100,000 electric vehicles from the company over the next ten years.

Lucid Group continues to suffer from elevated inventory levels in light of the ongoing macroeconomic turmoil. In Q4 2022, the company produced 1,561 more units than it managed to deliver. Lucid Group is targeting a full-year production of just around 14,000 units for 2023, substantially below the output of 49,000 units that the company had promised during its pre-SPAC-merger phase.

About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.

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