Lucid Motors slashes EV production targets again as supply chain problems persist – TechCrunch

EV automaker Lucid Motors on Wednesday slashed its annual production guidance in half due to what CEO Peter Rawlinson described as “extraordinary supply chain and logistics challenges.”

Shares of Lucid fell more than 12% in after-market trading following the release of its second-quarter earnings, in which it provided the production guidance.

Lucid lowered its production guidance from 12,000 to 14,000 vehicles to 6,000 and 7,000 vehicles for the year. That’s a just quarter of the 20,000 luxury Air sedans the company initially planned to produce n 2022. In February, Lucid adjusted that loftier goal down to 12,000 to 14,000 vehicles.

Lucid doesn’t appear to have a demand problem. The company reported it has more than 37,000 reservations for its Air sedan, a 23% increase from just a few months ago. It has failed to capitalize on that demand, delivering just 679 vehicles in the second quarter.

“Our revised production guidance reflects the extraordinary supply chain and logistics challenges we encountered,” said Lucid CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson said in a statement. “We’ve identified the primary bottlenecks, and we are taking appropriate measures – bringing our logistics operations in-house, adding key hires to the executive team, and restructuring our logistics and manufacturing organization. We continue to see strong demand for our vehicles, with over 37,000 customer reservations, and I remain confident that we shall overcome these near-term challenges.”

Lucid also announced that it has hired longtime Stellantis employee Steven David as senior vice president of operations, a position that encompasses supply chain, logistics, manufacturing, and quality. David, who has three decades of experience in manufacturing and operations, most recently headed up Stellantis’ component operations.

Lucid reported it generated $97.3 million in revenue on deliveries in the second quarter. While the company, which went public last year, did see its Q2 revenue pop from $57.6 million in revenue in the first quarter and just $174,000 in the same-year ago period, it was still far below analysts expectations.

Analysts surveyed by Yahoo Finance expected revenue of $145.5 million and an earnings per share loss of 33 cents.

Lucid said it ended the quarter with $4.6 billion cash, cash equivalents, and investments, which it said is expected to fund the company well into 2023.

Developing story. Check for updates.