Lucid losses put Saudi Arabia’s EV strategy in the headlamps

Lucid’s electric vehicles are often displayed prominently at public events and financial conferences in Saudi Arabia to symbolise its crown prince’s multi-billion dollar “Vision 2030”.

The electric car maker is among the biggest U.S. investments by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) which has been tasked with driving the kingdom’s ambitious plan to cut its reliance on oil revenue.

For PIF, the Lucid bet is proving challenging.

The U.S. company, in which PIF owns a 60.46% stake, fell well short of analyst forecasts on Tuesday with a sharp first quarter revenue fall and a cut to its 2023 production outlook.

That performance could put another potential dent in Saudi plans to build its own EV industry, which includes Lucid’s first manufacturing plant outside the U.S., as part of its far-reaching diversification plan led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Prince Mohammed is also chairman of PIF, the $620 billion fund which is expected to contribute 1.2 trillion riyals ($320 billion) to non-oil GDP through its portfolio companies and create 1.8 million new jobs between 2021 and 2025.

This report’s information was first seen on ZAWYA; to read more, click this link.