https://arab.news/6ag4g
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is the second-biggest market for luxury electric car manufacturer Lucid Group in terms of pre-orders, CEO Peter Rawlinson said on Thursday.
“It’s really my dream (to) help catalyze the genesis of an EV (electric vehicle) industry here in the kingdom,” he said at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, adding sustainable transport would benefit everyone.
Rawlinson, who did not give a figure for pre-orders, said he was heading back to California to hand car keys to the company’s first customers, and looked forward to doing the same in Saudi Arabia next year.
Lucid, aiming to rival to Tesla, has started production of its Lucid Air luxury electric sedans, equipped with a number of sensors including 14 cameras and one lidar.
Rawlinson said Lucid’s first factory, built last year in nine months, was constructed in a area that could potentially have the capacity for up to 90,000 vehicles, up from 30,000 now.
He said his dream was to bring the cost down and sell a version of the Lucid Air Pure model for $70,000, versus its first car, a $169,000 special edition of its flagship sedan.
The company says on its website it plans to deliver 520 customer-configured Lucid Air Dream Editions, followed by deliveries of Lucid Air Grand Touring versions. Touring and Pure models are expected to be delivered to customers during 2022.
Lucid’s listing in July was a huge dividend for Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which invested more than $1 billion in the company in 2018 for a substantial stake and invested more in February.
Lucid is currently valued at over $43 billion, with the PIF holding a nearly 63 percent stake.