Lucid Motors is planning to expand its production facilities into China and the Middle East. The company's CEO Peter Rawlinson said they are already laying the foundations to build new factories outside of the U.S.
Rawlinson said the company should have new production facilities in the Middle East and China by at least 2025. China is the world's largest auto market, and electric companies such as Tesla have already taken advantage of that fact by expanding their production there. Several Chinese electric vehicle start-ups, including Xpeng, Li Auto, and Nio, are also vying for customer attention in the country.
Apart from expanding its production facilities abroad, Rawlinson said they are also planning to make a significant investment in their existing facilities.
The electric carmaker, which is aiming to take on Tesla at home and abroad, currently has its flagship manufacturing facility in Casa Grande, Arizona. The company said it had already started producing vehicles at the factory since September.
Rawlinson said they are planning to "quadruple" the size of the company's flagship factory in Arizona. He added that Lucid would be building a new 2.85 million-square-foot expansion, which he says will be needed to meet their goals of building up to 90,000 per year. Rawlinson said once their expansion plan reaches phase three, the facility should be able to churn out nearly 400,000 vehicles per year.
Lucid expects to produce up to 20,000 Air sedans this year, a target that was initially announced in July and then again on Monday. Rawlinson said they should still be able to meet that target, given that their Arizona factory is capable of producing up to 34,000 units per year in its current form.
Last month, the company began deliveries of the "Dream Edition" of its Lucid Air sedan after months of delays. The company said starting deliveries is an important milestone as it enters into the highly-competitive EV market.
Rawlinson claimed that the company has received "over 17,000" reservations for its Lucid Air sedan. He said the deposits, which are fully refundable, have grown significantly over the past six weeks. He claimed that they were receiving additional reservations every day, which then increased substantially after the Lucid Air was named MotorTrend's car of the year on Monday.
Rawlinson's remarks came only one day after Lucid released its first-quarter financial results as a public company. On Tuesday, it topped Ford Motor in market capitalization as investors reacted to management reaffirming production goals for 2022 and predicting a rise in refundable car bookings.
