Lucid Group’s reservation backlog for its Air sedan fell to twenty-eight,000 this week from 34,000 late final 12 months in an indication of easing demand, as the luxurious EV maker mentioned it deliberate to just about double manufacturing in 2023 to as many as 14,000 vehicles.
In its fourth-quarter earnings report Wednesday, Lucid mentioned income rose to $258 million from $26.4 million a 12 months earlier. Analysts on common had anticipated gross sales of about $303 million, based on Refinitiv information reported by Reuters.
Lucid shares fell practically 9 p.c in after-hours buying and selling Wednesday to about $9 per share.
The automaker reported fourth-quarter manufacturing of three,493 Air sedans, its solely mannequin, and deliveries of 1,932. For full-year 2022, the automaker reported manufacturing of seven,180 automobiles and deliveries of 4,369.
Lucid mentioned on its third-quarter earnings name final 12 months that it had 34,000 reservations for varied trims of the Air sedan, which amounted to an intensive backlog. However earlier this month, the automaker introduced gross sales incentives of as much as $7,500 on some Air fashions after EV rival Tesla Inc. lower costs throughout its four-model lineup.
Lucid mentioned in its fourth-quarter earnings report that it expects to supply 10,000 to 14,000 Air sedans this 12 months.
The EV maker’s fourth-quarter web loss narrowed to $473 million from a lack of $1.05 billion a 12 months earlier.
“Final 12 months was a difficult 12 months for everybody, but regardless of the extraordinary provide chain and logistics challenges, the group persevered with an unrelenting concentrate on delivering what we consider is one of the best luxurious sedan in the marketplace,” Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson mentioned in a press release.
Rawlinson mentioned that he was shifting his focus from resolving manufacturing points related to supply-chain constraints to drumming up gross sales amid softening demand.
“We’ve solved manufacturing,” Rawlinson mentioned through the firm’s quarterly name with analysts on Wednesday. “That’s not the problem right here now,” he added.
“My focus is on gross sales. And right here’s the factor: We’ve received what I consider to be the very greatest product on the planet and simply too few folks conscious of not simply the automobile however the firm,” Rawlinson mentioned.
Lucid Group’s inventory worth jumped final month after unconfirmed hypothesis that Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund, which holds a controlling stake in Lucid, might be engaged on a deal to purchase out the remainder of the automaker.
Lucid has not commented on the report by offers web site Betaville, which characterised the merchandise as market gossip. After the report, Lucid’s inventory surged 43 p.c to $12.87 on the Jan. 27 shut.