(Reuters) -Lucid Group beat expectations for quarterly deliveries on Monday, as the Saudi Arabia-backed maker of luxury electric vehicles lowered prices and offered cheaper financing to drive demand, sending its shares up more than 6%.
The company handed over 3,099 vehicles in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with estimates of 2,637, according to six analysts polled by Visible Alpha. That represented growth of 11% over the third quarter and 78% higher than the fourth quarter a year earlier.
Production rose about 42% to 3,386 vehicles in the reported quarter from a year earlier, surpassing estimates of 2,904 units.
For 2024, production rose 7% to 9,029 vehicles, topping the company’s target of 9,000 vehicles. Annual deliveries grew 71% to 10,241 vehicles.
Lucid started taking orders for its Gravity SUV in November, in a bid to enter the lucrative SUV sector and take some market share from Rivian and Tesla.
Rivian on Friday topped analysts’ estimates for quarterly deliveries and said its production was no longer constrained by a component shortage. But Tesla reported its first fall in yearly deliveries, in part due to the company’s aging lineup.
Demand for EVs, already squeezed by competition from hybrid vehicles, could face another challenge as President-elect Donald Trump is expected to reverse many of the Biden administration’s EV-friendly policies and incentives.
Lucid, backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, has reduced its workforce as part of cost-cutting efforts, with the EV maker still losing tens of thousands of dollars per vehicle.
The company also raised $1.75 billion in October through a stock sale that CEO Peter Rawlinson believes will provide Lucid with a “cash runway well into 2026”.
Lucid, whose stock was down about 28% in 2024, is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter results on Feb. 25.
(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Anil D’Silva)
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