It’s a tough time to be an electric vehicle startup, with pioneers like Tesla struggling to maintain momentum and demand at established automakers not quite matching projections. For EV maker Lucid, the answer to avoiding those woes was simple: slash prices.
According to the Californian company’s latest sales figures, volumes were up 40% in the first quarter of 2024, reports Automotive News. The rise in sales was thanks, in part, to extensive price cuts that came amid an EV pricing war that was started by Tesla. As Automotive News reports:
Lucid Motors said its first-quarter deliveries surged 40 percent compared with the same period last year to 1,967 Air sedans after sharply cutting prices in mid-February and sweetening its lease deals.
The Newark, Calif., startup said Tuesday it produced 1,728 Airs in the quarter ending March 31 at its factory in Casa Grande, Ariz., and a secondary assembly facility in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia.
Sales weren’t just up compared with Q1 in 2023, Lucid also posted a 13% increase over sales in Q4 of 2023. During that time, an entry-level Air Pure started at $82,400 after Lucid first cut its prices last summer. By the time 2024 rolled around, the price dropped again and through Q1 a base Air would set you back $79,400.
Lucid currently only offers one model for sale in markets including the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. However, the company has plans to roll out its new Gravity SUV, which it hopes will help “open up a much larger market for the automaker,” reports Automotive News.
A version of this article originally appeared on Jalopnik’s The Morning Shift.
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