This week, on Monday, August 29, 2022, Lucid Group Inc. made it clear it intends to raise another $8 billion. The luxury electric startup automaker filed for a new offering as it works to combat the typical difficulties related to being a startup, in addition to supply chain and inflation concerns among global automakers.
Lucid is still in the early stages of being an automaker, with just one model available to date, and a very pricey one in the Lucid Air. According to Automotive News, the brand has a market cap of about $27 billion. However, it recently announced that it has to cut its production forecasts in half due in part to supply chain constraints and logistical concerns.
Much like most automakers today, and especially newer EV startups like Rivian, Lucid is finding that the costs to build its vehicles are increasing. Meanwhile, it can't build nearly enough vehicles to fill orders, and the prices it promised buyers likely should have been much higher.
At this point, it comes as no surprise Lucid is planning on raising more money. And, it won't be surprising if the company has to do so many more times going forward. If you take a quick look at Tesla's history, it's clear that the road will probably be rocky for Lucid for many years to come, and it will have to continue to invest in the future and raise funds accordingly.
Automotive News reported that Lucid's filing was for a "mixed shelf offering." In short, this means it can choose to sell a variety of securities as part of multiple separate offerings.
Lucid is headquartered in California, though it's building a factory in Arizona. News just broke last week that the EV maker plans to expand the Arizona factory. The local country just invested ~$114 million to lease another 1,400 acres to add to the existing 600 acres.
CEO Peter Rawlinson hasn't shied away from the fact that Lucid will need to raise money. In fact, the automaker already raised the $4.4 billion it needed for 2022, but the CEO said the company won't be waiting until the end of 2022 to raise more.
