Lucid Motors built 2,954 electric vehicles (EVs) in the third quarter of this year, a 54% drop from last year, as the company deliberately limited production to better meet demand for its electric vehicles.
This is the third consecutive quarter in which the number of electric vehicles built by Lucid has declined. This is also the lowest quarterly production since the first quarter of 2025, just after Lucid Motors began production of its second electric vehicle, the Gravity SUV.
Lucid delivered 3,806 electric vehicles in the third quarter, roughly flat with the second quarter and down about 200 vehicles from the third quarter of 2025. The company has struggled to find buyers for either of its first two luxury electric vehicles. In five of the last six quarters, it built more vehicles than it delivered.
Lucid’s new CEO, Silvio Napoli, has spent the last few months leading an effort to “simplify the business.” That effort included laying off about 1,500 employees, streamlining the company’s management and cutting a second shift at its Arizona plant in an effort to achieve $1.4 billion in cost savings. Lucid has also delayed the release of its third EV, the Cosmos. This model is said to be much cheaper, starting at under $50,000.
The third-quarter figures, released Monday afternoon, come just days after EV rival Rivian posted its best-ever quarter thanks to the R2, its new, more affordable SUV. Although Rivian did not disclose specific delivery numbers for the R2, the company shipped nearly 20,000 vehicles in the third quarter, the first full quarter with the R2 in production, compared to 12,194 in the second quarter.
Lucid’s inability to find a large buyer market for its electric vehicles is even more egregious when compared to promises the company made during its IPO in 2021. That year, Lucid Motors merged with a special purpose acquisition company and estimated it would ship as many as 90,000 electric vehicles in 2024 alone. The company raised $4 billion from that deal.
During Lucid’s second-quarter earnings call in August, Napoli explained why he thinks the company has failed to crack the electric vehicle market.
“While there is no doubt that Lucid has brought cutting-edge innovations and exceptional products to market, we have disappointed on several fronts, and for far too long,” he said. “We didn’t execute consistently. We missed commitments, launched products before they were ready, underinvested in service, reacted too slowly to quality issues, and let complexity slow decisions.”
The Cosmos’ lower price could, in theory, give Lucid access to a wider market, but Napoli warned shareholders that rushing the new electric vehicle could create more problems.
“We will not repeat past mistakes by releasing a product before it is ready,” Naples said on the call.
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