Luxury EV startup Lucid Group announced an electric-vehicle technology partnership with Aston Martin Monday. Shares of Lucid stock rallied off a 52-week low, but trimmed gains. Meanwhile, startup peer Nikola took a dive.
Lucid will supply electric powertrains and battery systems to power the first and future all-electric vehicles from Aston Martin, the iconic British luxury sports car maker popularized in the James Bond movie franchise. Further, the companies said Aston Martin will in turn give Lucid a 3.7% stake in the company. It also will make cash payments to Lucid worth about $232 million.
Aston Martin plans to launch its first electric vehicle in 2025. It said on Monday that an existing EV technology partnership with Mercedes-Benz would continue.
The deal comes amid an ambitious and costly global shift to electric cars.
Lucid Stock Rallies Off Low
Shares of Lucid advanced 1.5% to 5.55 in afternoon trade on the stock market today, closing at the session low after jumping in morning trade. Still, LCID stock rallied after five down days, which took shares to a 52-week low of 5.46 Friday. On June 1, shares had crashed on a stock sale announcement. MBGAF shares, which trade over the counter, was almost unchanged, near 78.50, Monday.
On May 31, Saudi Arabia-backed Lucid raised about $3 billion through a stock sale. It also said the new funding would help it bring advanced EV technologies to global users at a faster pace, including in China.
Lucid confirmed to Reuters June 9 that it is preparing to enter China, the world's largest auto market. In the U.S. the luxury Lucid Air electric sedan starts around $87,400.
Shares of Nikola plunged 14.7% Monday. On Friday, multiple Nikola semi-trucks caught fire at its headquarters in Phoenix. The EV startup said it suspects foul play and is investigating the cause of the fire.
Shares of Tesla tumbled 6.1% Monday amid yet another analyst downgrade.
