Lucid EV production falls 54% to lowest level in almost two years

Lucid builds its fewest EVs in almost two years

Lucid Motors produced 2,954 electric vehicles in the third quarter, a 54% drop from the same quarter a year earlier and the company's lowest output since the first quarter of 2025, according to TechCrunch. The automaker says the decline is partly intentional, as it limits manufacturing to better match real demand for its cars.

The figures, released Monday afternoon, extend a losing streak: it was the third consecutive quarter in which Lucid built fewer vehicles than the one before. The last time production was this low was in early 2025, shortly after the company started building its second model, the Gravity SUV.

Deliveries stay flat as unsold cars pile up

Lucid delivered 3,806 vehicles in the third quarter, roughly unchanged from the second quarter and about 200 fewer than in the third quarter of 2025. According to TechCrunch, the company has struggled to find buyers for either of its first two luxury EVs, and in five of the last six quarters it built more cars than it delivered, a pattern that points to persistent inventory pressure rather than a temporary dip.

Cost cuts, layoffs and a delayed Cosmos

The production pullback runs alongside a broad restructuring led by Lucid's new CEO, Silvio Napoli, who has spent the past few months working to "simplify the company," as TechCrunch reports. The effort has included laying off around 1,500 employees, streamlining the leadership team and eliminating a second shift at the Arizona factory, all in pursuit of $1.4 billion in cost savings.

Lucid has also delayed its third vehicle, the Cosmos, which is intended to be considerably cheaper than its current lineup, starting at under $50,000. On the second-quarter earnings call in August, Napoli was candid about the company's record: "We have not executed consistently. We missed commitments, launched products before they were ready, underinvested in service, responded too slowly to quality issues, and allowed complexity to slow decisions down."

He also pushed back on the idea of rushing the Cosmos out the door to compensate, telling shareholders: "We will not repeat the mistakes of the past by bringing a product to market before it is ready."

A widening gap with Rivian and with Lucid's own projections

The weak quarter lands just days after rival EV maker Rivian recorded the best quarter in its history, shipping nearly 20,000 vehicles in the third quarter, the first full quarter with its new, more affordable R2 SUV in production, up from 12,194 in the second quarter. Rivian did not break out specific delivery figures for the R2, TechCrunch notes.

The contrast with Lucid's own expectations is starker still. When the company went public through a SPAC merger in 2021, it raised $4 billion and projected shipments of as many as 90,000 EVs in 2024 alone, according to TechCrunch. Actual production is now running at a small fraction of that number.

Why it matters

Lucid's numbers are a case study in what happens when an EV startup's product ambition outpaces its market. Producing more cars than it delivers, quarter after quarter, forces a choice between discounting, cutting output or absorbing the cost of unsold inventory, and Lucid has chosen output cuts paired with deep expense reductions and a thinner workforce.

The company's fortunes now rest heavily on the Cosmos. A sub-$50,000 model could open a far larger buyer pool than its two luxury vehicles have reached, but delaying it leaves Lucid leaning on slow sellers while Rivian demonstrates that affordability is where volume currently sits. For the broader EV sector, the episode is a reminder that capital-intensive carmakers cannot simply build their way to scale; demand has to show up first, and the cost structure has to survive until it does.