Lucid is dropping the value on its flagship and sole car (for now), the Air sedan, as a result of demand simply isn’t the place the nascent automaker wants it to be. Three trims of the Air — the Pure, Touring and Grand Touring — will all see various levels of value cuts.
The base mannequin Air Pure rear-wheel drive will now begin at $71,400 together with vacation spot, a $7,500 value reduce that makes it cheaper than the Tesla Model S. The Air Touring all-wheel drive begins at $79,400, an $8,000 discount, and the Grand Touring will now begin at $111,400, $1,000 lower than earlier than. The bonkers 1,234-horsepower Air Sapphire sadly is not going to see a value reduce; it nonetheless begins at a cool quarter-million bucks. Regardless, Lucid has clearly seen it wants to spice up gross sales, particularly because it prepares to launch its second car, the Gravity crossover.
Even with the value drops the Air nonetheless isn’t shut sufficient to qualify for the $7,500 federal tax incentive, as a result of sedans have a value cap of $55,000 below the IRS’s new guidelines. However, there’s an exception for leasing, that means you’ll be able to nonetheless get that candy, candy $7,500 tax break that means.
From a gross sales standpoint Lucid shouldn’t be actually having a good time proper now. In December simply 675 Airs have been registered within the U.S., based on Automotive News. That’s nonetheless a 33 % acquire when in comparison with the identical time a yr prior. Overall, 6,254 Airs have been registered in 2023, an 87-percent year-over-year enchancment. However, that quantity nonetheless fell beneath Lucid’s personal gross sales forecasts.
Here’s extra from AutoNews on the place the EV market is correct now, and why it seems like EV costs have been coming down considerably.
An oversupply of battery-electric automobiles and a value struggle began by Tesla 13 months in the past have pressured costs throughout the full-EV phase, analysts say.
Cox Automotive reported Tuesday that Tesla’s common transaction value was down 20 % in January in contrast with the year-earlier month and EV transaction costs have been down 11 % throughout the business.
”Higher stock and slowing gross sales have pushed automakers and sellers to layer on the reductions in an effort to spur gross sales,” Cox stated in its Feb. 12 report on new-vehicle transaction costs.
Still, the EV market shouldn’t be dangerous for everybody. Mercedes-Benz, considered one of Lucid’s major rivals, set a new EV gross sales file in This fall of 2023 and stated that 15 % of its total passenger car gross sales have been electrical vehicles. Not too shabby. Additionally, in January Hyundai’s EV gross sales jumped 42 % from the prior yr.
Source: jalopnik.com