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The Street
The Street
Rob Lenihan

Lucid Air EV Sedans Cost $12,000 Less Amid Latest Price Cuts

Lucid Motors (LCID) -) is trying to look on the bright side.

“Don't take our word for it," the luxury-EV maker tweeted on Aug. 7. "@MotorTrend just named #LucidAir as the best luxury electric car you can buy in 2023."

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"There's a new king of the EV luxury sedan hill in our MotorTrend Ultimate Rankings: the 2023 Lucid Air, a car conceived not by tech people, but rather by car people," MotorTrend said

"Gorgeous, naturally athletic, and massively spacious, Lucid offers a vehicle that can stand toe to toe with the Model S," MotorTrend said, referring to Tesla's (TSLA) -) high-end vehicle. "In many ways the Air embodies EV Luxury: brutally quick in performance, effortlessly cozy in comfort, and dramatically sleek in style."

Lucid tweeted the good news on the same day the company was scheduled to report quarterly earnings after the market closes.

"Look how beautiful that looks…..so classy," one person commented.

Lucid Cuts Base Prices for a Limited Time

Another person said Lucid is the greatest "EV company in the world."

Of course, this being social media, there was also a generous supply of ill will to be had. 

"Ceo needs to step down and make place for someone who understands marketing and sales," one tweet read.

"$LCID is the only company I have ever seen that can release great news, be voted the top EV by MT, and still get ABSOLUTELY crushed on Earnings day with zero news," another commenter said "Absolutely piss poor management and ZERO accountability!!!"

Lucid was sharing the MotorTrend review just days after announcing that the company was cutting prices as much as $12,400. Its shares slumped following the news.

"The Pure Summer Event just got even hotter," Lucid said in an Aug. 4 statement. "These limited-time offers are available on cars for immediate delivery."

The new base prices, “while supplies last,” will be $125,600 for the Air Grand Touring, which is down from $154,000; $95,000 for the Air Touring, down from $107,400; and $82,400 for the Air Pure, down from $87,400, the Verge reported

The move comes amid a price war in the electric-vehicle sector, sparked by increasing competition.

Tesla’s Model S and its performance version, the Model S Plaid -- direct competitors with the Air -- are priced at $88,490 and $108,490, down from $104,990 and $135,990 at the beginning of the year.

Lucid Had Posted a Wider First-Quarter Loss

Last month the luxury EV maker reported that it delivered 1,404 of its Air sedans in the second quarter, below analysts' expectations of roughly 2,000.

Lucid -- which signed a big deal to supply EV tech to Aston Martin -- laid off 1,300, or about 18%, of its employees in March.

In May, the company, which is partly owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, posted a loss of $779.5 million, or 43 cents a share, compared with a loss of $81.3 million, or 5 cents a share, a year earlier.

First-quarter revenue more than doubled to $149.4 million from $57.7 million a year earlier, but still fell short of Wall Street’s call for around $209.9 million. 

The company began deliveries of its Air sedan to customers in Saudi Arabia in June. 

Lucid’s upcoming Saudi factory, located in King Abdullah Economic City, is expected to start operations in the third or fourth quarter.

 The Newark, Calif., startup also said it was preparing to enter the Chinese auto market.

China is the world's largest auto market and more than 80% of the electric cars sold there last year were made by domestic automakers.

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