By David Shepardson
DETROIT (Reuters) -Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson said on Monday that a stock sale announced last week will provide the electric luxury sedan maker with a “cash runway well into 2026.”
Rawlinson said in an interview on the sidelines of a Reuters Next event that the stock sale, which raised about $1.75 billion, “serves to support the future of the company long term” as it prepares to begin building its Gravity SUV before the end of the year.
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Last week, Lucid said it expected the offering to raise $1.67 billion but on Monday the company said the offering had raised nearly $1.75 billion, adding that its expenses are “dominated by long-term investments.”
Rawlinson said the company has “five big bunches of cash” needs including its expansion earlier this year of its plant in Arizona by nearly 3 million square feet and a new plant in Saudi Arabia.
“We’re at a sort of capital intensive stage where we’re launching the Gravity, we’re paying for suppliers’ tooling and also ramping up our inventory of parts to produce that,” Rawlinson said. “And also we’re building out our sales service network internationally.”
Lucid is planning another mid-size crossover model in late 2026. Lucid shares were down 3% on Monday after falling sharply last week following the stock sale.
Rawlinson said the future is still rosy for electric vehicles despite some softening in demand. “I think there’s a temporary hiccup here, and there may be a temporary regression,” Rawlinson said. “This is a blip.”
He called plug-in electric hybrids a mistake. “They are the worst of everything, and all the costs of two systems,” Rawlinson said.
Lucid expects it will deliver 50% more cars in all of 2024 versus 2023, the CEO said.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler and Bill Berkrot)
