Shares of Lucid Group (LCID 0.41%) surged on Wednesday, soaring 12.4% at its highest point in trading earlier in the day after the electric vehicle (EV) stock's latest updates about its 2024 Air model lineup raised investors' hopes of a turnaround.
Lucid upgrades Air models and cuts prices
In a bid to boost sales, Lucid is trying to make its cars more competitive, and will now provide customers with greater flexibility to configure their vehicles, especially for its Pure and Touring versions.
Lucid is doing two things here: It has added new features to make its Pure and Touring models more alluring, and has cut starting prices as well to make them more affordable. While Air Pure now starts from $77,400 per unit, Air Touring will start at $85,900 per unit. The luxury EV maker will also add features and cut the starting price of its Air Grand Touring sedan in 2024.
Does that make the battered EV stock a buy?
How important are these updates to Lucid's stock price, you may ask? Well, for a company that has struggled to produce and sell EVs at scale so far and has watched its reservation numbers fall, any move to boost sales in a highly competitive market is welcome.
To put some numbers to that, consider that Lucid produced 1,550 vehicles and delivered 1,457 units in its third quarter. Lucid last reported reservations of around 28,000 cars in February, and that number was falling consistently for some quarters. Worse yet, Lucid slashed its 2023 production guidance last quarter from 10,000 cars to 8,000 to 8,500 vehicles.
Not surprisingly, Lucid's stellar start to 2023 amid a rebound in growth stocks lasted only so long -- the EV stock is now down more than 60% since February this year. Given Lucid's lingering challenges, I wouldn't be surprised if the market's euphoria that was on display today doesn't last, either.
