All of the major U.S. pure-play electric vehicle makers have reported their first-quarter delivery numbers, highlighting the growing production-ramp pangs of startups in particular.
The Numbers: Luxury EV maker Lucid Group, Inc. LCID was the latest to report its quarterly deliveries. The Newark, California-based company said after the market close on Thursday that it delivered 1,406 vehicles in the first quarter.
In comparison, Rivian Automotive, Inc. RIVN sold 7,946 vehicles, and market leader Tesla, Inc. TSLA delivered 422,000 units.
On the production front, Lucid manufactured 2,314 vehicles compared to 9,395 units by Rivian and 440,808 units by Tesla. By proportion, Lucid produces just 0.53% of the numbers that Tesla churns out of its factories. Rivian's production as a proportion of Tesla's is slightly better at 2.13%.
The Growth: While Lucid's deliveries declined 27.23% quarter-over-quarter and Rivian saw a 1.37% drop, Tesla reported a 4.34% sequential increase in deliveries.
On a year-over-year basis, Tesla's deliveries jumped 36.39% compared to Rivian's nearly 548% jump from the 1,227 vehicles sold in the first quarter of 2022. Lucid, which made its first commercial sales in November 2021, delivered merely 360 vehicles in the first quarter of 2022.
For companies that recently transitioned to the commercial stage, production could be a more reasonable metric to consider, given the problems with the ramp-up.
Compared to the fourth quarter, Tesla's production climbed 44.34%, while Rivian and Lucid reported declines of 6.24% and 67.77%, respectively.
The dip in quarterly figures for some companies is partly due to the usual seasonal slowdown in the first quarter. However, the numbers also demonstrate Tesla’s edge as a pioneer in the EV industry, with a global manufacturing presence that takes advantage of operating in diverse regions.
Additionally, Tesla’s integrated business model and robust supply chain partnerships set it apart from the competition.
While Lucid's EVs are premium cars and the weak sales reflect the tough economic milieu that has dented consumer confidence and in turn consumer spending, the company has set itself a 2023 production target of 10,000 to 14,000 units.
Rivian looks ahead to a production ramp-up to 50,000 units for the year. Tesla has a long-term delivery growth goal of 50% but it tempered its expectations and currently targets full-year deliveries of 1.8 million units.
Lucid shares ended Thursday’s session up 1.48% at $8.25 but fell 6.30% to $7.73 in after-hours trading, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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