RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has been supportive of Lucid Group Inc. during times when the firm faced a supply crunch which led to two production target cuts, said a top official.
Earlier this month, Lucid cut its production targets to 6,000 to 7,000 cars from an original target of 20,000 cars due to supply chain issues.
Faisal Sultan, managing director of global operations at Lucid, said that PIF — which owns over 60 percent share in the electric car manufacturing firm — understands the challenges around supply chain issues and costs.
“The PIF have been very supportive. When the world re-emerges from the pandemic and the supply chain catches up, we will be ready,” Sultan told Bloomberg TV.
Sultan, however, noted that supply chain issues will be solved soon, and conditions will improve by the end of this year.
“We’re a new company, so definitely there will be challenges in the next three-four months, but we’re hoping things will get better by the end of this year,” he added.
In the first quarter of 2022, Lucid sold 360 cars to Saudi Arabian customers, and in April alone, 300 cars were delivered in the Kingdom.
Lucid has inked a deal with Saudi Arabia to deliver 100,000 cars over the next decade, as the Kingdom continues its focus to achieve a sustainable future.
Sultan noted that Lucid has huge opportunities in the Kingdom.
“The government is very serious and they’ve been working very hard with us to make sure the environment is ready,” added Sultan.
On May 18, Lucid signed an agreement to build a production factory in King Abdullah Economic City, the western part of the Kingdom, with an annual capacity of 150,000 zero-emission electric vehicles.
