Lucid Motors Q1 2024 Earnings Call

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[00:01:02] Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by and welcome to the Lucid Group First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call.

[00:01:09] I would now like to hand the conference over to you speaker for today.

[00:01:13] Maynard Ahm, Senior Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

[00:01:17] Thank you and welcome to Lucid Group's First Quarter 2024 Earnings Call.

[00:01:22] Joining me today are Peter Rawlinson, our CEO and CTO and Gagan Dhingra, our Interim CFO and Principal Accounting Officer.

[00:01:29] Before handing the call over to Peter, let me remind you that some of the statements on this call include forward-looking statements under federal securities laws.

[00:01:36] These include without limitations statements regarding the future financial performance of the company, production and delivery volumes,

[00:01:43] financial and operating outlook and guidance,

[00:01:46] macroeconomic and industry trends, company initiatives and other future events.

[00:01:51] These statements are based on predictions and expectations as of today and actual events or results may differ due to a number of risks and uncertainties.

[00:02:09] Hello everyone and welcome to Killawata podcast about electric vehicles, renewable energy, autonomous driving and much, much more.

[00:02:16] My name is Bodhi and I am your host and on today's episode, as you probably already know,

[00:02:22] we are going to be talking about Lucid's Q1 2024 Earnings Call.

[00:02:27] There are a lot of repeated themes in this earnings call and I'm only going to play about six, maybe seven clips in total from this

[00:02:34] and they're all edited down to make sense for the show as I always say.

[00:02:39] So here's some of the themes that they're going to talk about.

[00:02:42] Scaling. In order for Lucid to make money, they need to achieve those economies of scale.

[00:02:47] They are going to talk a lot about the efficiencies of their car, which means reducing the battery size,

[00:02:53] which means getting more range, which means reducing costs.

[00:02:56] They're going to touch on their mid-sized platform, which isn't out yet.

[00:03:00] Won't be out for another two years, not even announced other than we know that it's a mid-sized more affordable Model Y competitor platform.

[00:03:07] And then they're going to talk about brand awareness.

[00:03:10] So let's go ahead and jump into Peter Rawlinson's opening remarks.

[00:03:15] And again, all of this is edited so that it makes the most amount of sense for the show.

[00:03:19] If you want the full and complete earnings call, I'll put a link in the show notes

[00:03:25] and you can listen to it at your leisure.

[00:03:28] All right, let's go ahead and jump into Peter's opening remarks.

[00:03:32] Now I believe there are two key factors that really set Lucid apart.

[00:03:37] Our superior in-house technology and our partnership with the PIF,

[00:03:43] who have been steadfast investors and partners.

[00:03:47] In Q1, we raised $1 billion in capital through a private placement of convertible preferred stock to an affiliate of the PIF.

[00:03:57] We're a strategic partner in the country's plan to achieve its Saudi Vision 2030 goals.

[00:04:05] I'm very grateful for the PIF's continued confidence and their steadfast support.

[00:04:11] So another repeating theme they talked about a lot that I should have mentioned is the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

[00:04:18] The PIF fund is how Peter will say it throughout the clips that you're going to hear.

[00:04:25] Whenever the question came up about financing,

[00:04:28] whether or not they'd have enough money to finance the production of the Lucid Gravity

[00:04:34] or the mid-size platform or just whatever, it doesn't really matter what it is.

[00:04:39] If it came up with, are you going to have enough money to do this?

[00:04:42] Peter Rawlinson said, well, we have this really neat relationship with the Saudi Public Investment Fund and they're really good partners.

[00:04:52] So essentially, I don't know if this is the best term, but essentially the PIF is Lucid's sugar daddy.

[00:05:01] And Lucid is a sugar baby, which is how I'll be referring to them here on now.

[00:05:06] Anyway, and listen, I'm not one to talk.

[00:05:09] The PIF has advertised on this show.

[00:05:13] I don't have any control as to what ads go on my on the show per se,

[00:05:20] but they've definitely advertised their renewable energy efforts on this show.

[00:05:27] So I've heard it with my own ears.

[00:05:29] Anyway, in our next clip, Peter's going to talk about the PIF.

[00:05:34] Anyway, in our next clip, Peter's going to give us the production and delivery numbers for Q1 2024.

[00:05:41] Turning to production and deliveries.

[00:05:43] In Q1, we produced 1728 Lucid airs and we delivered 1967, both slightly above our expectations.

[00:05:58] In fact, it was our best quarter to date for deliveries up 39.9% year over year.

[00:06:06] Our lower production than deliveries is an active decision to be cost conscious

[00:06:12] and it's not a reflection of production bottlenecks.

[00:06:17] For 2024, we expect to produce approximately 9000 vehicles,

[00:06:23] which is consistent with our guidance last quarter.

[00:06:26] So production and delivery numbers actually don't look that bad for Lucid.

[00:06:31] They need to do better, but all in all,

[00:06:34] it's looking like they're going to do better this year than they did in 2023.

[00:06:38] And if they can still stay afloat financially until they make money,

[00:06:44] that's not a bad thing.

[00:06:45] Next up, Peter is going to give us an update as to where Lucid stands today.

[00:06:50] Let me now provide you with an update on where I believe Lucid stands today.

[00:06:55] We've made solid progress on both brand awareness and pricing

[00:07:01] with our general brand awareness raising in the first quarter

[00:07:06] despite reducing media spend from the fourth quarter.

[00:07:10] Now Lucid Air is increasingly recognized as a superior vehicle

[00:07:16] in nearly every aspect that customers value.

[00:07:20] For the third consecutive year,

[00:07:23] Lucid Air was named the best luxury electric car

[00:07:27] by US and World Report on its 2024 best hybrid and electric car awards.

[00:07:35] Lucid Air is the only EV to win this category award three years in a row.

[00:07:41] Another achievement that sets us apart.

[00:07:46] I don't have much to add to that

[00:07:48] other than in previous earnings calls, if you've listened to any of those,

[00:07:52] he talks a lot about brand awareness.

[00:07:55] Basically people don't know that Lucid exists

[00:07:59] so since people don't know that Lucid exists, sales are down

[00:08:02] and they need brand awareness so that they can bring sales up

[00:08:05] and that might be partially true.

[00:08:07] However, I would argue that if you're looking in the market

[00:08:10] for a let's just say $70,000 to $250,000 EV

[00:08:16] you could probably do a Google search

[00:08:19] and figure out which EV you want to buy

[00:08:22] and Lucid is going to be one of those options.

[00:08:25] Whether or not it's a trusted option, that's a different story.

[00:08:29] I think Lucid has actually done a pretty good job

[00:08:32] in terms of building a good car that people do seem to be happy with.

[00:08:37] I haven't heard a lot of people complaining about their Lucid Air.

[00:08:41] So next up, Peter is going to talk about savvy consumers

[00:08:45] and why they're choosing the Lucid Air.

[00:08:48] Now consumers are savvy and they recognize the deficiency

[00:08:52] of other EVs in the market, particularly the limited range

[00:08:57] of most EVs.

[00:08:59] To ease fears of range anxiety,

[00:09:03] other automakers must produce and install bigger batteries

[00:09:07] which results in higher costs to charge the vehicle

[00:09:11] and longer relative charge times versus Lucid Air.

[00:09:16] Remember, Lucid Air is the most efficient vehicle in its class

[00:09:20] as measured in miles per kilowatt hour

[00:09:23] while leading the industry for range and charging speed

[00:09:28] and having a lower total cost to charge.

[00:09:32] I've seen commentary about our losses per vehicle

[00:09:36] but such speculations reflect a lack of knowledge

[00:09:39] about our costs and our scale-up intentions.

[00:09:43] Inside, the ostensibly high cost of goods line item

[00:09:48] is the cost of the factories and equipment needed

[00:09:51] to make the vehicles and scale our business.

[00:09:55] If we envisaged a company would only make a small number of vehicles,

[00:09:59] we would have purchased less equipment and built a smaller factory.

[00:10:04] But we have a more ambitious goal

[00:10:06] to provide affordable long-range EVs

[00:10:10] for mainstream mass market consumers.

[00:10:14] And as we scale, the leverage in our model should become obvious

[00:10:20] and we're embarking on a transformational phase,

[00:10:23] the expansion of our vehicle line up.

[00:10:26] Lucid Air Pure is already here

[00:10:29] with a starting price from $69,900

[00:10:35] and the Gravity SUV program is scheduled

[00:10:38] for start of production late this year.

[00:10:41] So if you're just hearing him mention

[00:10:43] that Lucid Air is the most efficient car in its class,

[00:10:47] with this clip, because I realize

[00:10:49] I'm cutting this down from an hour and four or six minute earnings call

[00:10:54] down to hopefully less than 30 minute podcast,

[00:10:58] just know that he's probably said this already seven times.

[00:11:02] It's all throughout this presentation.

[00:11:05] The Lucid Air starts at $70,000

[00:11:08] and has a range of 419 miles, which is pretty good.

[00:11:12] The Mercedes EQS sedan is $104,000

[00:11:16] and has a range of 350 miles.

[00:11:21] The BMW i5 starts at $67,000

[00:11:26] and has a range of 270 miles

[00:11:29] and the Tesla Model S starts at $73,000

[00:11:32] and has a range of 402 miles.

[00:11:35] So based on that metric,

[00:11:37] Lucid probably has those other car companies beat.

[00:11:40] But the question is, do they have them beat

[00:11:42] in all the other categories?

[00:11:44] Like right now, Tesla's rocking it with the full self-driving,

[00:11:48] which I've got the trial.

[00:11:50] I don't know if I've said this publicly yet,

[00:11:52] but I've got the trial.

[00:11:53] I got it a week ago or almost a week ago

[00:11:55] and I'm very impressed with it.

[00:11:58] I still don't trust that 100%.

[00:12:00] I would say it's probably 90% of the way there

[00:12:03] in most scenarios,

[00:12:05] probably 80% for all scenarios.

[00:12:08] But yeah, it's pretty good.

[00:12:11] I've been driving everywhere on full self-driving

[00:12:16] and I'm really enjoying it.

[00:12:18] However, is it worth $99 a month?

[00:12:20] Nope.

[00:12:21] I still have to pay attention even more

[00:12:25] to what I find when I'm using full self-driving

[00:12:28] than if I'm just driving the car myself,

[00:12:30] which I'm still paying attention of course.

[00:12:32] But anyway, the whole point is,

[00:12:34] does Lucid beat these other car companies

[00:12:37] and all those other categories that people may want?

[00:12:39] Like the Mercedes EQS probably has

[00:12:41] just a ton of luxury built into that car.

[00:12:44] The BMW i5 at $67,000 in 270 miles of range,

[00:12:49] people are buying that car

[00:12:51] because they want a BMW i5.

[00:12:54] I don't think they're buying it

[00:12:56] because they care too much about the range.

[00:12:59] They just want a BMW, brand loyalty.

[00:13:02] And maybe the BMW i5 does some other things

[00:13:04] that the Lucid doesn't.

[00:13:05] I have no idea.

[00:13:06] But just in general,

[00:13:08] I haven't tested these cars out

[00:13:12] so I can't say with any authority,

[00:13:14] but I'm not convinced that they're beating

[00:13:16] these other manufacturers in every category.

[00:13:19] They are beating them on range though.

[00:13:22] Let's see.

[00:13:23] He talks a little bit about the buildup,

[00:13:25] out costs.

[00:13:26] 9,000 EVs is not enough to hit economies of scale.

[00:13:30] We talked about this.

[00:13:32] I don't know what the number is,

[00:13:34] but it's a lot higher than 9,000 for sure.

[00:13:38] But Lucid is expanding their lineup

[00:13:41] with their mid-sized EV,

[00:13:43] which production should start according to them

[00:13:45] in late 2026.

[00:13:47] Maybe priced around $48,000.

[00:13:51] We'll see what actually ends up happening.

[00:13:54] I don't know if I put this in or not,

[00:13:56] but the technology deals that Lucid has right now

[00:14:01] like Aston Martin,

[00:14:03] they have a partnership with them.

[00:14:05] They have other prospective partnerships

[00:14:07] in the works

[00:14:09] and they're also providing the front drive unit

[00:14:11] for the electric, for an electric,

[00:14:14] for a electric racing series.

[00:14:16] They didn't specifically say which one

[00:14:18] and they're opening to licensing

[00:14:20] their software to other companies as well.

[00:14:22] So that makes sense.

[00:14:24] Let's move on to retail investor questions

[00:14:27] and I think this first question is fair.

[00:14:30] What is the pathway to profitability?

[00:14:32] Our first question is from Anath.

[00:14:34] Can you elaborate on Lucid's pathway to profitability?

[00:14:37] What are the key milestones and challenges

[00:14:39] the company anticipates facing

[00:14:41] in reducing production costs

[00:14:43] and achieving positive gross margins?

[00:14:45] Thank you, Anath.

[00:14:46] It's all about scale.

[00:14:48] The more we can scale,

[00:14:50] the more cars we make,

[00:14:52] the more volume we can spread,

[00:14:55] the fixed costs,

[00:14:57] that's the cost of our investment,

[00:14:59] our incredible factory and facility,

[00:15:01] our long-term investments across the sale of each car.

[00:15:04] So how do we do that?

[00:15:06] We need to continue growth

[00:15:08] of Lucid Air sales right now.

[00:15:10] And right now we're trending up 40%

[00:15:13] from Q1 this year

[00:15:15] relative to last year.

[00:15:17] Now in a similar period,

[00:15:18] we see the sales of Tesla Model S

[00:15:21] down very, very considerably.

[00:15:24] We're outselling key competitors

[00:15:26] like Porsche Taycan.

[00:15:28] It's about scale.

[00:15:30] And the next thing on that scale path

[00:15:32] is to get gravity into production

[00:15:34] that will have a multiplier effect

[00:15:37] upon the market size.

[00:15:39] And gravity is scheduled for start of production

[00:15:41] late this year.

[00:15:43] And then beyond that,

[00:15:44] we need to get our mid-size vehicle,

[00:15:46] our volume vehicle,

[00:15:48] around we believe about $48,000,

[00:15:51] get that into production

[00:15:53] and it is on schedule for production

[00:15:55] for late 26.

[00:15:57] And I've got to tell you just how much

[00:16:00] our current finances are truly dominated

[00:16:03] by the major investments

[00:16:05] that Lucid's made for its future.

[00:16:08] You know, things like the expansion

[00:16:10] of our Arizona first factory,

[00:16:12] we've got nearly 4 million square feet in there.

[00:16:14] General assembly is ready.

[00:16:16] We're putting robots in now

[00:16:18] for building the body structure

[00:16:20] for the gravity.

[00:16:22] We've invested in a huge stamping line.

[00:16:24] We're integrating logistics.

[00:16:26] We're bringing a powertrain facility

[00:16:28] right under that one roof

[00:16:30] and that's exactly where we're going to make

[00:16:32] the units that we supply to Aston Martin

[00:16:34] all under one roof.

[00:16:36] And I think there's some photographs

[00:16:38] in the presentation, Maynard,

[00:16:40] and videos on our social media pages.

[00:16:43] And then the other thing is

[00:16:45] that the real big advantage

[00:16:47] that Lucid's got over everyone else

[00:16:49] is efficiency.

[00:16:51] And I don't say that as an engineer,

[00:16:53] I say that as a businessman.

[00:16:55] That efficiency means we can make cars

[00:16:57] with smaller batteries,

[00:16:59] with less batteries than anyone else.

[00:17:01] That means because the battery

[00:17:03] is the most costly part of an EV,

[00:17:05] we'll be able to make cars

[00:17:07] more cost effectively and therefore

[00:17:09] with more profit margin than anyone else.

[00:17:14] It's that time of the year.

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[00:17:21] relax,

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[00:17:25] You really, really want it all to work out

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[00:17:29] Monday.com gives you and the team that peace of mind.

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[00:17:37] Tap the banner to go to Monday.com.

[00:17:42] Hey, it's Ryan Renalton.

[00:17:44] I'm here with Keith,

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[00:19:11] So the answer is schedule.

[00:19:17] Scale, scale, scale, scale.

[00:19:19] You got to scale up productions so that you can

[00:19:21] hit those economies of scale.

[00:19:22] You could reduce prices and actually start making money.

[00:19:26] But right now they're not making money

[00:19:28] on the lines that they have.

[00:19:30] I would imagine that they're going to build

[00:19:32] and I don't know if this is the case or not,

[00:19:34] but I imagine they would build

[00:19:36] the lucid gravity on the same lines

[00:19:38] that they're building the lucid air on.

[00:19:40] And the reason why I would imagine

[00:19:43] that is it makes the most amount of sense

[00:19:45] like putting a whole new production

[00:19:47] line in for another vehicle that might

[00:19:50] sell in the low thousands

[00:19:53] doesn't make a lot of sense financially.

[00:19:55] However, they might just do what

[00:19:57] they're going to do.

[00:19:59] But they need to scale.

[00:20:00] They're only building 9,000 cars per year.

[00:20:03] They have a factory in Arizona

[00:20:05] that's billions of dollars.

[00:20:07] 9,000 cars per year are rolling

[00:20:09] out of that factory.

[00:20:10] They're also building a factory in Saudi Arabia.

[00:20:13] Like I don't know how many of these vehicles

[00:20:15] they're shipping off to Europe and the Middle East

[00:20:17] and Asia and stuff like that.

[00:20:20] But it seems like it would be a whole lot cheaper

[00:20:22] just to ship these vehicles to those locations

[00:20:24] than it would be to build a factory

[00:20:26] in that region at this point

[00:20:29] to build a factory in that region

[00:20:31] to produce these cars.

[00:20:33] So your shipping costs go down.

[00:20:35] Does that make sense?

[00:20:37] I mean, I'm truly guessing this.

[00:20:39] I don't have any inside knowledge,

[00:20:40] but I'm guessing the factory in Saudi Arabia

[00:20:43] is like we want a factory

[00:20:45] and we'll pay for it.

[00:20:46] And Lucid's like, all right,

[00:20:48] I mean, you're continuing to give us money.

[00:20:50] Go ahead and pay for it.

[00:20:52] I can't imagine that that's a good business decision

[00:20:57] for a company that is selling 9,000 cars a year.

[00:21:04] He talked about lots of investments

[00:21:06] and all that stuff.

[00:21:07] We're not going to go into that.

[00:21:10] He talks again about efficiencies,

[00:21:12] production efficiencies, the car efficiencies.

[00:21:14] He mentioned a little bit about licensing

[00:21:17] the batteries and motors to other manufacturers.

[00:21:20] Again, I didn't put that in.

[00:21:25] But yeah, he also mentioned,

[00:21:27] and I didn't put this in the clip either,

[00:21:30] licensing the technologies

[00:21:32] that will go into the mid-sized vehicle

[00:21:34] to other companies.

[00:21:36] And you know, that makes sense.

[00:21:38] I do think Lucid and I think Lucid has a great product.

[00:21:42] I think Peter Rawlinson is a really smart engineer.

[00:21:45] I don't have proof of this,

[00:21:47] but back in 2017 when I went and visited

[00:21:50] with Lucid people,

[00:21:52] there was this very nice elderly English man

[00:21:55] that really explained a ton of stuff

[00:21:59] to myself and my kid,

[00:22:01] Sierra, who was with me at the time.

[00:22:05] And he was great.

[00:22:07] And looking back on that,

[00:22:09] I think I was talking to Peter Rawlinson.

[00:22:12] I don't know if I was or wasn't.

[00:22:14] I can't find pictures of those moments.

[00:22:18] But I think I was talking to Peter Rawlinson

[00:22:20] about the front drive unit for the car.

[00:22:24] And whoever I was talking to was very smart.

[00:22:26] Peter Rawlinson is very smart.

[00:22:28] He's not a dumb man.

[00:22:30] And I think there are other companies,

[00:22:33] legacy automakers, who want to build EVs

[00:22:35] and aren't succeeding at the moment.

[00:22:37] They would probably kill to enjoy

[00:22:39] some of these efficiencies

[00:22:41] that Lucid claims to have in their products.

[00:22:44] All right, let's move on to the analyst questions.

[00:22:48] We only have two of these.

[00:22:50] Let's start with,

[00:22:51] can Lucid get funding to launch their mid-sized car?

[00:22:54] Now, I'm going to play this clip,

[00:22:57] but I'm guessing based on everything

[00:22:59] that I've told you to this point,

[00:23:01] you can guess what the answer is going to be.

[00:23:03] This question comes from the line of John Murphy

[00:23:05] with Banks of America.

[00:23:06] Your line is open.

[00:23:08] By the way, before we get to the clip,

[00:23:09] I would really like to know

[00:23:11] who's the person signing in the background?

[00:23:14] Good evening, everybody.

[00:23:16] Peter, I don't necessarily mean to conflate

[00:23:19] the company that started with Tesla

[00:23:22] for many reasons.

[00:23:24] But as we look at the S and X,

[00:23:26] the company was struggling

[00:23:28] and it wasn't until the 3 and the Y launched

[00:23:31] that there was kind of an escape velocity

[00:23:33] on self-funding.

[00:23:34] And it seems like we're looking at

[00:23:36] somewhat of a parallel here.

[00:23:38] I don't mean to make explicit direct comparison,

[00:23:42] but it does seem like the space

[00:23:45] or the smaller vehicle launching in late 26

[00:23:49] will be sort of where you potentially

[00:23:51] reach that escape velocity

[00:23:52] similar to when they hit the 3 and the Y.

[00:23:55] So I was wondering if you would maybe

[00:23:57] kind of concur with that to some degree.

[00:24:00] I hope you don't take offense to that,

[00:24:02] but to some degree.

[00:24:03] And then also as we think about that,

[00:24:05] we're seeing sort of these dribs and drabs

[00:24:07] and I wouldn't say a billion dollars

[00:24:09] is a drib and a drab.

[00:24:10] It's a lot of money.

[00:24:11] But you know, sort of this question from investors,

[00:24:14] will you be able to get the funding

[00:24:16] sort of guaranteed to get to the launch

[00:24:19] of that escape velocity

[00:24:21] or maybe it's the space in 2026?

[00:24:24] So I mean, one, do you kind of agree

[00:24:26] with sort of that logic

[00:24:27] that that's when you reach escape velocity

[00:24:29] and will you have the funding to get there?

[00:24:32] Thank you, John.

[00:24:33] Thank you, John.

[00:24:34] An interesting parallel

[00:24:36] and a very thoughtful question from you as always.

[00:24:39] I mean, look,

[00:24:41] the vision is to get to very significant volume

[00:24:45] and clearly that comes in two steps.

[00:24:48] Well, there's three steps.

[00:24:49] First of all, scale M with brand awareness.

[00:24:52] Step 2, go for about 6 times the 10 with gravity

[00:24:56] and I really believe

[00:24:57] there's a very big significant opportunity

[00:25:01] with gravity that Model X didn't capture

[00:25:04] because Model X was a bit car-like,

[00:25:06] a bit CUV-like,

[00:25:08] whereas gravity is a proper SUV

[00:25:11] and it's a 7-seat 3-row

[00:25:13] and we've got this unique secret weapon

[00:25:16] that we can go further with less battery

[00:25:19] and address the critical cost

[00:25:21] of making these products

[00:25:23] and which you'll see unfold

[00:25:27] as we get to a degree of scale

[00:25:29] which gravity will enable.

[00:25:31] But it's true to say

[00:25:32] that we won't be bare full fruition of all that

[00:25:36] until we get the mid-size platform into production

[00:25:39] and it's scheduled for start of production late 26.

[00:25:43] Now, regarding our partnership,

[00:25:46] what really makes Setsis Lucid a part

[00:25:48] is the combination of two things.

[00:25:50] A unique world-class technology

[00:25:52] combined with our special relationship with the PIF

[00:25:56] and that relationship with the PIF

[00:25:58] transcends a merely financial one

[00:26:01] because they are invested in us

[00:26:04] as a cornerstone of transitioning

[00:26:07] the economy of Saudi Arabia

[00:26:09] to a sustainability model

[00:26:11] with their audacious Vision 2030.

[00:26:14] And we are in this together.

[00:26:18] They are equally incentivized for success.

[00:26:21] Right now, running in Saudi Arabia

[00:26:23] is the first car plant they've ever had operating

[00:26:26] and it's a very important one

[00:26:28] for Lucid plants.

[00:26:30] Right now, we're laying the foundations

[00:26:32] literally pouring the concrete

[00:26:34] for our complete business unit, our CBU factory

[00:26:38] which is scheduled to sync with the advent

[00:26:41] of the arrival of the mid-size there in Saudi Arabia.

[00:26:46] They are incentivized for our success.

[00:26:49] We are mutually incentivized for success.

[00:26:52] Nothing less than success is acceptable here.

[00:26:56] First of all, were any of you surprised with the answer?

[00:27:00] I'm not sure that I wasn't.

[00:27:02] I wasn't surprised at all.

[00:27:05] I did a little Google search

[00:27:06] while I was listening to that clip

[00:27:08] and I said,

[00:27:10] what percentage of Lucid do the Saudis own?

[00:27:13] And I honestly thought it was going to be higher than 50%

[00:27:18] but I didn't know how much higher.

[00:27:20] And I was right, it's higher than 50%

[00:27:22] but they own as according to Reuters

[00:27:25] on March 25th, 2024

[00:27:27] they own 60% of Lucid.

[00:27:31] So effectively Saudi Arabia owns Lucid.

[00:27:35] There is a scenario where Saudi Arabia

[00:27:37] just buys the entire company

[00:27:39] and it's no longer traded on the stock exchange

[00:27:43] and they just do what they want with it.

[00:27:47] All right, let's get into our last question

[00:27:50] which is about the mid-size model

[00:27:52] and taking pre-orders.

[00:27:54] And then just following up on John's question

[00:27:56] about the mid-size more mass market model,

[00:28:00] have you guys thought about providing some more

[00:28:03] just detail on it, maybe some teaser pictures

[00:28:06] a little earlier to try to drum up some

[00:28:09] just more interest from a broader consumer base

[00:28:12] and even potentially opening the door reservations

[00:28:15] to just generate some more liquidity.

[00:28:18] Thank you.

[00:28:20] Well, that's an interesting point.

[00:28:22] I actually think that the consumer

[00:28:26] has been ill served by some players

[00:28:29] in this space by taking reservations

[00:28:35] way, way ahead of time

[00:28:37] in a very artificial manner.

[00:28:39] What we believe is a much greater degree

[00:28:41] of transparency and really getting closer

[00:28:47] to that product being an absolute reality.

[00:28:51] Remember that any such reservations

[00:28:56] and money taken is a false form of liquidity

[00:29:00] because it's something we would have to put in escrow anyway.

[00:29:03] It doesn't really, it's not true liquidity.

[00:29:06] And we believe in absolute transparency

[00:29:09] and showing the product with a realistic specification.

[00:29:14] As we're doing say with gravity,

[00:29:16] we've not taken reservations deliberately

[00:29:18] until we get closer to the start of production.

[00:29:21] This is a philosophy that we've adopted

[00:29:25] and we will let you know that time in the future

[00:29:29] when we open a waiting list for gravity.

[00:29:33] And we're not even close to,

[00:29:35] I don't think it's right to be opening up

[00:29:37] reservations on a product that is over two years out.

[00:29:42] I just don't think it, I think it all serves

[00:29:45] the consumer and it's something that I think

[00:29:47] there's a transparency that's lacking from that.

[00:29:52] I actually agree with this pretty much every word.

[00:29:56] I don't think there's any advantage to it.

[00:29:58] I think you actually create more ill will

[00:30:01] if you're late or if you don't deliver

[00:30:04] on what you promised or whatever.

[00:30:07] I think this path is fraught with peril.

[00:30:12] I don't think people should be taking it.

[00:30:14] So I agree with Peter on this one.

[00:30:17] So everybody, that is it for me this episode.

[00:30:21] I hope you all enjoyed it.

[00:30:23] I think this was actually a pretty interesting earnings call

[00:30:27] despite the fact that they just repeated

[00:30:29] the same three talking points, four talking points.

[00:30:32] But we learned a little bit about the mid-size vehicle,

[00:30:36] learned a little bit about what's going on at Lucid.

[00:30:39] So overall, I think this was interesting.

[00:30:41] Hopefully you did too.

[00:30:42] If you want to email me, it's Bodie,

[00:30:45] You can also find me on X at 918digital.

[00:30:49] I also have another podcast called Beyond the Post

[00:30:52] that I do with my buddy Rob.

[00:30:54] I can't tell you who it was, but we had a big YouTuber

[00:30:58] or short-form media content creator

[00:31:02] on an interview today.

[00:31:05] That interview won't be aired until July.

[00:31:08] But if you want to know who we interviewed

[00:31:10] and who we talked to, subscribe.

[00:31:14] I also have a podcast called The Show Notes

[00:31:16] to take you to where you need to go

[00:31:18] to subscribe to that podcast.

[00:31:20] I'm really enjoying it.

[00:31:21] The whole goal of that podcast is to help people

[00:31:23] become digital creators and to give them

[00:31:26] a realistic view into what it's like

[00:31:28] to do stuff like this.

[00:31:30] I even give some behind-the-scenes stuff

[00:31:32] that goes on with this show.

[00:31:33] So if you're interested in that kind of thing,

[00:31:35] check it out.

[00:31:37] All right, Friday's episode is going to be news

[00:31:41] May 21st is going to be Rivian's earnings call.

[00:31:47] Hopefully it is as good as this one was.

[00:31:50] Right.

[00:31:52] I'm just continuing to talk.

[00:31:53] I don't know how to close this out.

[00:31:54] I'm going to go make a phone call

[00:31:56] and see if I can be a sugar baby

[00:32:01] of the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

[00:32:05] Wish me luck.

[00:32:06] Thank you.

[00:32:18] Thank you.

[00:32:19] So this concludes Lucid's first quarter

[00:32:21] of 2024 earnings conference call.

[00:32:23] Thank you all for joining us today

[00:32:25] and you may now disconnect.

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