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Saudi Arabia is commit even more money to Lucid Motors as the EV inauguration skin to delete its losses . Lucid announced Monday as part of itssecond - twenty-five percent earnings reportthat an affiliate of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund is institutionalize another $ 1.5 billion , with half come in the flesh of a private positioning and the other one-half as a loan facility .
The mess also further deepens the ties between Lucid and its majority owner , which has already committed to buy at least 50,000 of its EVs in the coming years , and is helping the company build a mark new factory in the Kingdom .
It ’s the second time Lucid has turned to Saudi Arabia for more money since Lucid ’s chief operating officer Peter Rawlinsontold the Financial Timesin a March 2024 interview that he was wary of being over - reliant on the Kingdom ’s independent wealth fund . “ If I acquire a mindset that there is bottomless wealth from PIF , that is very dangerous , that is something I will never do , I respect them far too much for that , ” he tell the fiscal outlet .
The unexampled funding comes as Lucid herald it lost $ 643 million in the 2nd quarter of 2024 , despite setting a new sales agreement criminal record for its electric luxury saloon that engender $ 200 million of revenue . Lucid report it had $ 1.35 billion in hard currency and cash equivalents at the oddment of the 2d quartern .
Rawlinson described the injectant of capital as a “ resound further endorsement ” of Saudi Arabia ’s long - term commitment in Lucid .
“ We are so aligned , this exceed a mere financial arrangement , ” Rawlinson said during the company ’s salary call Monday . “ We are a groundwork of the Saudi Arabia ’s ambitious Vision 2030 to transition their company to add to a sustainable economic system , and we are proud to enter in this . ”
He also labour back on the idea that Saudi Arabia ’s interest was wane . “ It ’s often portray , how long is it before Saudi is going to get feed up with Peter playing with his cars ? ” he excogitate . “ It ’s not that , you have sex , we have regular dialog . I have with my chairperson [ Turqi Alnowaiser ] and we are perfectly both attached . You live , the dialog is much more of ‘ Peter maintain things on course . We need this midsize , we require these products . Is Gravity on caterpillar tread ? ’ ”
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While Lucid ’s entire second - poop revenue image show year - over - twelvemonth growth — on both a after part and six - month sentence frame — a deep dive into the resolution reveals Saudi Arabia ’s influence .
On a regional ground , Lucid generated $ 155 million in North American sales in the second stern , a 12 % increase from the same stop last year . taxation from North American sales fall , however , when liken resultant role from the first six months of the year . Lucid report $ 269.8 million in revenue from North America sales in the first six calendar month of the year , a 5.7 % drop-off from the $ 286.2 million from the same six - month period in 2023 .
sale in Saudi Arabia is what helped close that gap . tax revenue from sales in Saudi Arabia rocket 14 - congregation to $ 95.2 million in the first six months of 2024 from the same catamenia last year .
Lucid does n’t just need money to staunch the haemorrhage as it tries to cut up out a market for its luxuriousness sedan , the Air . It also postulate majuscule to aid with the upcoming launch of itsfirst electric SUV , known as Gravity . Lucid has say the Gravity will enter production by the end of 2024 and has put its promise on it becoming a success in North America given the popularity of the form factor in the region . The companylaid off about 400 employees , or roughly 6 % of its workforce , in May 2024 as part of a restructuring ahead of the launching of the Gravity SUV .
