Lucid Motors to showcase production model of its electric sedan this April

[Shawn Knight]

The big picture: Electric automaker Lucid Motors this week announced intentions to unveil its first production automobile, the Lucid Air, in New York this April. That could be bad news for Tesla, a company that has done extremely well for itself in recent memory, but is viewed as nothing outside of a positive for the industry as a whole.

Lucid was founded in 2007 as Atieva, focusing primarily on building powertrains and batteries for other electric vehicle makers. In late 2016, the company rebranded as Lucid and set about developing its own EV. As Faraday Future’s outlook started to look less certain, Lucid emerged as a potential frontrunner to challenge Tesla in the rapidly materializing electric auto market.

The $1 billion investment it landed from Saudi Arabia didn’t hurt matters, either.

Lucid said it is in the process of building 80 prototypes of the Lucid Air at its Silicon Valley headquarters. These vehicles, said to be highly representative of the final production model, will be used for exhaustive testing of traction and stability controls, braking and steering systems, chassis and body tuning and in crash testing.

The company is hard at work building out its production facility in Casa Grande, Arizona, as well. Lucid said most of the structural steel will be in place by the end of February. The hope is that the first pre-production models will start rolling off the assembly line early in the fourth quarter followed by mass production by the end of the year.

Interested parties can reserve their own Lucid Air with a $1,000 deposit.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/83563-lucid-motors-showcase-production-model-electric-sedan-april.html

 

[wiyosaya]

Honestly, I do not know how two recent quarters of marginal results from Tesla, after years of hemorrhaging money, and a bloated stock price equate to Tesla doing well in recent memory.

That said, I think it is great that there are more players entering the EV market.

 

[VitalyT]

If it holds true, then both Lucid and Rivian start mass production in the last quarter of this year. This can herald the end for Tesla, as they will have nothing that excels. Lucid beats Tesla in both performance + luxury. Rivian beats Tesla in both range and practicality all around.

And that's not to mention what's in store from the German trinity of Audi + BMW + Mercedes. We may finally have good cars to choose from.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

If it holds true, then both Lucid and Rivian start mass production in the last quarter of this year. This can herald the end for Tesla, as they will have nothing that excels. Lucid beats Tesla in both performance + luxury. Rivian beats Tesla in both range and practicality all around.

And that's not to mention what's in store from the German trinity of Audi + BMW + Mercedes. We may finally have good cars to choose from.

The end of Tesla? I'll believe it when I see it. Tesla's stock price is now over $500 a share, which means that a LOT of people are willing to bet real money that Tesla is going to be a major leader in the industry in the future. How much money would you bet that this is the end of Tesla? If you think they're done, there's no better time to short them.

Maybe Rivian and Lucid will be better cars (for a similar price?), but there's room for all three.

 

[captaincranky]

The end of Tesla? I'll believe it when I see it. Tesla's stock price is now over $500 a share, which means that a LOT of people are willing to bet real money that Tesla is going to be a major leader in the industry in the future. ...[ ]....

I'm sticking to my story that holding Tesla stock prices that high, is just another one of Musk's mind games.

The number of stocks available, divided by the estimated value of the company, is a far better measure.

By holding stock prices that high, Musk is trying to inflate the value and esteem of the company. Other companies would split the stock, to allow lower tier investors a shot a buying in.

But this way Musk, as it were, is standing on his soap box, proclaiming, "my company's stock is more valuable the the industry giants.

But at least Ford and GM are likely turning profits and paying dividends, not losing a quarter billion dollars a quarter.

The more money Musk puts in his own pockets and Tesla loses, the more people seem to hang on his every word. I'm beginning to think Musk would rival P.T.Barnum as "the best carnival barker ever".

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

I'm sticking to my story that holding Tesla stock prices that high, is just another one of Musk's mind games.

The number of stocks available, divided by the estimated value of the company, is a far better measure.

The number of shares available divided by the value is the price.

Outstanding shares * stock price = Market Capitalization (aka, total value of the company)

If you split your stock you double the shares and halve the price and everyone now has 2 shares instead of one and they're each worth half as much. It's like turning everyone's $20 bills into two $10s. The value is exactly the same there is no inflating the value... although I assume you mean Musk is just trying to make Tesla look more impressive than it actually is, and you're probably right, that's something he'd do.

And $500 isn't too high. Amazon is at $1800 right now. The famous case of not splitting is Warren Buffet's Bershire Hathaway - it's $342,000!

I'd bet Tesla wouldn't split though because it'll be back under $500 by lunch on Friday.

 

[captaincranky]

If you split your stock you double the shares and halve the price and everyone now has 2 shares instead of one and they're each worth half as much. It's like turning everyone's $20 bills into two $10s. The value is exactly the same there is no inflating the value... although I assume you mean Musk is just trying to make Tesla look more impressive than it actually is, and you're probably right, that's something he'd do.

I'd bet Tesla wouldn't split though because it'll be back under $500 by lunch on Friday.

Well, let's face it, Tesla is riding high right now because, "it (for once) turned a profit". At least Tesla USA did. If you look at Tesla as an entire entity, including the China factories, it's hemorrhaging money hand over fist. So, all the excitement about one quarterly profit, is entirely unwarranted. (IMO at least). Obviously if it remains being continually profitable in the future, that forms an entirely different outlook

Mr.Musk now has a new government to leech off, and (IMO), it's one that would cover any losses Tesla might encounter, if only to spite the US. "Legend has it", that the Chinese government subsidizes companies heavily to maintain low prices. (Along with the fact they don't pay their workers very well). So Musk, in the public's eye here in the US is setting the world on fire. But in China, they've only managed to turn out a dozen or so cars, from a multi billion dollar investment, along with another giga-money pit being dug.

I really do think Tesla might succeed once those factories are in full operation, but for now, the American investors are embracing the idea the, "All's Well that Ends Well" (Sorry Shakespeare), rammed down their throats. (Sorry about the mixed metaphor).

But the idea that, "Tesla is worth more than Ford and GM because the individual stock price is higher", is beyond ludicrous. (**) I get the impression that that's the concept that people will accept as "fact", or, "truth", or whatever bizarre belief system Tesla fanboyz adhere to.

Mr.Buffet is obviously an extreme exception, but in normal corporate stock pricing, a "public company" should, (or at least once did), split the stock to allow the actual "public" to participate.

(**) (OK, the headline to the "Tesla Stock price now" article was pure "clickbait", which doesn't bother me in the least. But if people buy into as I have suggested they seem to be, it's (the headline) absurd.

It's right up there with something like, "Intel is going out of business two weeks from today because of AMD's new processors".

 

[Uncle Al]

With the costs of start up it's a fair bet it will be awhile before they are in the black despite the fact that it is far easier to build an electrical vehicle than a fossil fuel driven one. While it's great to see yet another company enter the electric vehicle market another big concern for educated buyers will be the concern of being stuck with an orphaned product if the company fails. And of equal concern will be the final price point. We've got lots of them out here that start well over $40K, but to reach the masses where the real profits are we need to see one that retails for under $30K.

 

[wiyosaya]

It's right up there with something like, "Intel is going out of business two weeks from today because of AMD's new processors".

You mean to tell me that Intel is not going out of business two weeks from today because of AMD's new processors? Man, have I been sold a bill of goods. ?

I'm sticking to my story that holding Tesla stock prices that high, is just another one of Musk's mind games.

IMO, more like ignorance and cluelessness on the part of Muskonauts. ?

 

[mbrowne5061]

The number of shares available divided by the value is the price.

Outstanding shares * stock price = Market Capitalization (aka, total value of the company)

If you split your stock you double the shares and halve the price and everyone now has 2 shares instead of one and they're each worth half as much. It's like turning everyone's $20 bills into two $10s. The value is exactly the same there is no inflating the value... although I assume you mean Musk is just trying to make Tesla look more impressive than it actually is, and you're probably right, that's something he'd do.

And $500 isn't too high. Amazon is at $1800 right now. The famous case of not splitting is Warren Buffet's Bershire Hathaway - it's $342,000!

I'd bet Tesla wouldn't split though because it'll be back under $500 by lunch on Friday.

Value of the company != market capitalization.

Value of the company is calculated as a function of revenue, profit, expenses, anticipated growth, material assets, debts, etc. Market capitalization is just the sum value of all issued shares of stock, whose price is set by speculation on future value of the company.

Stock prices are people trying to guess where the company value is going, company value is where it presently is. Right now, the company value of Tesla is practically zero, between their debt, revenue, profits, assets, etc. The reason people are assigning high value to Tesla stock though is they are right at the tipping point where their growth will become sustainable and the revenues will finally begin to offset their expenses and debt. People are trying to buy in 'on the ground floor', not realizing that they are already half-way up the skyscraper.

Just watch, if Tesla splits their stock, it means they feel that they have finally arrived and can start behaving like a car company instead of a startup. If they continue to let the price increase, well, they will be asking for trouble if their company value can't keep up and they ever find themselves needing to raise capital via a share offering again.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

But the idea that, "Tesla is worth more than Ford and GM because the individual stock price is higher", is beyond ludicrous. (**) I get the impression that that's the concept that people will accept as "fact", or, "truth", or whatever bizarre belief system Tesla fanboyz adhere to.

Ludicrous maybe, but it's just math. Stocks are ownership and if you want to buy the whole company you have to buy all the shares of stock. Therefore, the 'value' is what it would cost to buy all the shares - aka, Shares * Price.

Investors decide on whether a stock is underpriced or overpriced based on it's projected future cash flow. The fact that Tesla is 'worth more' than GM or Ford tells us that investors think that down the road (haha -car pun) Tesla will be selling more cars than Ford or GM. When will that be? who knows. 2025? 2030? It might seem crazy now, but the idea that Kodak would be out of the photography business seemed crazy in 2005. Gateway 2000 sure looked like a great company back when PCs were all the rage in the late 1990's.
With multiple new electric car companies growing, it's not hard to believe that the market won't be able to sustain them all plus all the current makers and we'd see some shrink while others grow.

Also - Tesla is valued like a tech company, not a car company. Meaning, people think technology improvements will drastically reduce costs and margins will go way up. That means profit.

 

[Lew Zealand]

If it holds true, then both Lucid and Rivian start mass production in the last quarter of this year. This can herald the end for Tesla, as they will have nothing that excels. Lucid beats Tesla in both performance + luxury. Rivian beats Tesla in both range and practicality all around.

And that's not to mention what's in store from the German trinity of Audi + BMW + Mercedes. We may finally have good cars to choose from.

Vaporware rarely defeats an already established selling product. Lucid may beat Tesla on paper but Tesla beats Lucid where it counts, bringing in revenue to a company with a number of easily purchasable products for sale right now. Same goes for Rivian.

Now if these guys get it together this year, maybe something interesting will happen next year in the EV market, but current sales of non-Tesla EVs is quite small, especially from startup automakers.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

Value of the company != market capitalization.

Value of the company is calculated as a function of revenue, profit, expenses, anticipated growth, material assets, debts, etc. Market capitalization is just the sum value of all issued shares of stock, whose price is set by speculation on future value of the company.

When the news reports that Tesla is 'worth' more than Ford they're comparing market capitalization, which is how we got on this topic. If you want to get really specific about it, 'value' is subjective. Meaning, if you asked 10 people what'd they'd pay to buy a used car, you'd get 10 different answers.

When a private company (they have no stock) is purchased they use EBITA times a multiplier like 7 to value the company. then they'll say it's worth 7 times EBITA and use that as a purchase price.

-Your next part about stock price being a future projection I agree with