Lucid's EV output falls to lowest level in almost two years

Lucid Motors built 2,954 electric vehicles in the third quarter of this year, a 54% drop from a year ago, as the company purposely limits production to better meet demand for its EVs. It was the third straight quarter in which Lucid’s vehicle output declined, and the lowest quarterly output since the first quarter of 2025, just after Lucid started production of its second EV, the Gravity SUV.

Lucid delivered 3,806 EVs 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 EVs: 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 company.” That effort has included laying off around 1,500 employees, streamlining the company’s leadership, and eliminating a second shift at its factory in Arizona, in a bid to reach cost savings of $1.4 billion. Lucid also delayed the release of its third EV, the Cosmos, which is supposed to be much cheaper, starting at under $50,000.

The third-quarter figures, released Monday afternoon, come just days after rival EV upstart Rivian posted its best quarter in history on the back of the R2, its new, more affordable SUV. Although Rivian did not break out specific delivery figures for the R2, the company shipped nearly 20,000 vehicles in the third quarter — the first full quarter with the R2 in production — up from 12,194 in the second quarter.

Lucid’s failure to find a large market of buyers for its EVs is even more stark compared with the promises the company made when it went public in 2021. That year, Lucid merged with a special purpose acquisition company and estimated it would ship as many as 90,000 EVs in 2024 alone; the transaction raised $4 billion.

On Lucid’s second-quarter earnings call in August, Napoli spoke about why he thinks the company has failed to make a dent in the EV market. “While there is no question that Lucid brought leading innovations and outstanding products to the market, we have disappointed on several fronts, and for far too long,” he said. “We have not executed consistently. We missed commitments, launched products before they were ready, underinvested in service, responded too slowly to quality issues, and allowed complexity to slow decisions down.”

The Cosmos’ lower price could, in theory, let Lucid access a wider market, but Napoli cautioned shareholders that rushing the new EV out could create more trouble. “We will not repeat the mistakes of the past by bringing a product to market before it is ready,” he said on the call.

Why it matters

Lucid is deliberately shrinking output to match weak demand just as Rivian shows that an affordable, well-executed SUV can still find buyers in the same EV market.