Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson appeared on CNBC Friday morning with Jim Cramer and David Faber, sharing his thoughts on his company, plans for growth the electric vehicle market and rumors of a SPAC deal.
About Lucid Motors: One of the hottest SPACs over the last few months has been Churchill Capital Corp IV CCIV, a company linked to rumors of a merger with Lucid Motors.
Lucid Motors is focused on the luxury segment of the electric vehicle market, with plans to offer more affordable vehicles in the future that it can mass produce.
Lucid Motors Growth: The company is starting small, with plans to sell 6,000 to 7,000 vehicles this year. The Lucid Air Dream car is the first vehicle that will be produced and comes with a starting price of $161,000.
Lucid Motors will “increase our volume accordingly” to create a more affordable luxury electric vehicle, Rawlinson said.
The Lucid Air will have a starting point of $70,000 in the future, he said.
“We’ve already built the first phase of our factory in Arizona,” the CEO said.
A six-year plan calls for phase four to be complete in the mid-2020s. The factory will be able to produce 400,000 units a year under phase four.
Rawlinson said Lucid Motors is seeing “overwhelming” demand right now, with its “order book growing daily.”
Related Link: Churchill Capital Corp IV SPAC Pops On Lucid Motors Rumor
The Electric Vehicle Market: Lucid Motors believes it is important to keep its manufacturing in house and control its retail operations. Lots of startups in the electric vehicle space do not have in-house technology, according to Rawlinson.
Rawlinson is a former engineer at Tesla Inc TSLA who helped work on the Tesla Model S.
“Tesla has done an amazing job,” he said.
The CEO referred to a technology race among electric vehicle companies. Technology is why Tesla has a high market cap, Rawlinson said.
Rawlinson said he's disappointed with traditional automakers that haven’t competed with Tesla.
The CEO would not call Tesla a competitor, saying its luxury vehicle will compete with Mercedes-Benz.
Lucid's Plans To Go Public: CNBC host Faber asked Rawlinson for comment on the SPAC merger speculation.
“You know I can’t comment on such matters,” Rawlinson said.
The CEO would not confirm or deny that talks had or are being held with Churchill Capital Corp IV.
Rawlinson said the value of the company will be realized when the Lucid Motors vehicles are made and are sold to the public.
The CEO was asked if demand for Churchill Capital Corp IV had changed his view on the valuation of the company.
“I really can’t comment on that right now as you know,” Rawlinson said.
CCIV Price Action: Shares of Churchill Capital Corp IV were trading 7.05% higher to $32.35 at last check Friday.
Disclosure: Author is long shares of CCIV.
Photo courtesy of Lucid Motors.
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