Lucid Group - Q1 2023
May 8, 2023
Transcript
Operator (participant)
Hello, thank you for standing by, welcome to Lucid Group's first quarter 2023 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are on a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. To ask the question during this time, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. You will hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. I would now like to hand the conference over to Maynard Um. You may begin.
Maynard Um (Head of Investor Relations)
Thank you. Welcome to Lucid Group's first quarter 2023 earnings call. Joining me today are Peter Rawlinson, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer, and Sherry House, our Chief Finacial Officer. Before handing the call over to Peter, let me remind you that some of the statements on this call include forward-looking statements under Federal Securities law. These include, without limitation, statements regarding the future financial performance of the company, production and delivery volumes, financial and operating outlook and guidance, macroeconomic and industry trends, company initiatives, and other future events. These statements are based on predictions and expectations as of today, and actual events or results may differ due to a number of risks and uncertainties.
We refer you to the cautionary language and the risk factors in our most recent filings with the SEC and the forward-looking statements on page two of our investor deck, available on the investor relations section of our website at ir.lucidmotors.com. In addition, management will make reference to non-GAAP financial measures during this call. A discussion of why we use non-GAAP financial measures and information regarding reconciliation of our GAAP versus non-GAAP results is available in our earnings press release issued earlier this afternoon, as well as in the investor deck. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Lucid's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer, Peter Rawlinson. Peter, please go ahead.
Peter Rawlinson (CEO and CTO)
Thank you, Maynard, and thank you everyone for joining us for our first quarter earnings call. In quarter one, we produced 2,314 vehicles and delivered 1,406. Now, Sherry will go into more detail on our financials, but I would like to first thank all our employees. We have the best EV on the market and really, I believe the best car on the market, and it would not have been possible without the collective efforts of our entire team, which is a direct result of tremendous perseverance, resourcefulness, and teamwork. I want to express my deep personal gratitude to everyone who has contributed to and the teams that will help advance our mission going forward. I'm very excited about our future and the opportunities that lie ahead of us.
We have the best EV on the market and really, I believe, the best car on the market, and it would not have been possible without the collective efforts of the entire team. I would like to welcome three new members of the board, Sherif Marakby, Chabi Nouri, and Ori Winitzer. Together, they bring significant global experience in the areas of marketing, finance, and operations across automotive, technology, and luxury consumer goods. Now, these additions are a reflection of the company's evolution as we mature to the growth and brand awareness stage of our life cycle. I'd also like to congratulate Turqi Alnowaiser on his appointment as Lucid's Chairman of the Board, and also thank Andrew Liveris for his guidance during his service as chairman.
Also a heartfelt thank you to our outgoing board members, Nancy Gioia, Tony Posawatz, and Frank Lindenberg, for their significant contributions and their dedication to Lucid's mission. Last quarter, I laid out two key significant strategic priorities for the company. Number one, growth and brand awareness, and Number two, a laser focus upon cost. We have taken immediate action on both. We made the decision to adjust our workforce in Q1 given evolving business needs, productivity improvements, and broader economic uncertainty, which we, like many others, are not immune from. Whilst we believe this positions us to be more agile and puts us in the best position for success moving forward, it was nonetheless a difficult decision. Sherry will speak to our cost focus in greater depth. Let me provide an update on our growth and brand awareness progress.
We continue to make strides in growing our brand awareness, and I'm proud to say that Lucid Air was recently awarded a number of prestigious industry accolades, adding to our existing portfolio of awards, such as the 2022 MotorTrend Car of the Year. At the 2023 New York International Auto Show, Lucid Air was crowned the 2023 World Luxury Car. Lucid Air was also named to be the U.S. News & World Report 2023 Best Hybrid and Electric Cars list for Best Luxury Electric Car. These awards reinforce our belief that the Lucid Air is not just the best EV in the world, but the best car available in the world today.
The Lucid Air sets a new industry benchmark for range and two versions that were the first EVs to achieve an EPA estimated range over 500 mi. We set these new standards, thanks in part to our groundbreaking in-house developed technology, which continues to garner significant industry attention. In fact, Lucid recently received the 2023 Newsweek Powertrain Disruptor of the Year award. I cannot underscore enough how advanced our technology is, making it the best in the world on many metrics. I believe that we are years ahead of our next closest competitor, who in turn, we believe, is several years ahead of their next closest competitor.
I believe that as more companies come to the realization that developing world-class powertrains is not as easy as we make it look, then we will continue to grow more interest in our patented hardware and software technology from other OEMs. In fact, we continue to see interest from multiple parties. As I've said in the past, whilst this is not an area where we put a tremendous amount of proactive attention, I'm pleased with the growing levels of interest and progress that we're receiving with these OEMs. Our technology and know-how is what enables us to have game-changing range, supercar levels of performance, super-fast charging, a luxurious and spacious interior, and exceptional aerodynamics. I also want to stress that the best technology does not mean most complex nor most expensive. In fact, it's quite the opposite.
I believe that our vehicles are fundamentally easier to manufacture in many ways than our competitors. This is done through brilliant in-house engineering, a design for manufacture, and very high degrees of innovation. We're not resting on our laurels. We're using advanced technology to drive down the costs for EVs. We're moving towards more efficient EVs in order to decrease the battery pack sizes, which will enable lower-cost vehicles. We have much more to come with an exceptional technology roadmap and further enhancements and innovations, pushing the envelope on what's possible, including for our mid-size platform. Now looking more near-term, Sapphire is on track for start of production later this summer in mid-September. The Lucid Air Sapphire will feature three motors, carbon ceramic brakes, an aerodynamic package, new sports seats, and track-tuned suspension for a sublime driver-focused sporting experience.
It's expected to boast a sub-two seconds zero to 60 mi an hour and a sub-four seconds zero to 100 mi an hour with a sub-nine seconds quarter mile at a top speed exceeding 200 mi an hour. I've been test driving Sapphire very recently, and I'm finding it extremely satisfactory in terms of its performance. I'm also excited to announce that the Gravity SUV entered a new phase of development with road testing having started a couple of weeks ago. Just as the Lucid Air redefined the sedan category, I believe that the Gravity SUV is positioned to do exactly the same for its corresponding SUV category. We're taking all the best elements of Air and putting them into an SUV: game-changing range and efficiency, amazing interior space, fast charging performance, and luxury.
Just last week, I was out in a Gravity on a test drive, and I'm delighted with the progress that has been made. Make no mistake, the Gravity SUV will be a true landmark. We can't wait for you to experience the Gravity SUV at an unveil later this year, at which time you'll be able to place a reservation. We think you're gonna absolutely love it. Now, in software, we continue to make big strides. We had five over-the-air updates in Q1 with a number of features that customers have been requesting, including CarPlay and scheduled charging. Indeed, we're working on many more exciting updates. We're listening intently to what our customers want while simultaneously providing more in-house design features to provide our customers with whatever best-in-class experience they prefer.
What's more important is to emphasize that we've designed our cars to be over-the-air updatable from the very start. I believe that there are very few that have the over-the-air capability to the same degree. It's a platform on which we can do so much more. At our last earnings call in February, I spoke about customer awareness of the Lucid brand. We see brand growth happening in stages, starting with the innovators, then early adopters, and moving to early majority and beyond. We believe we are still early on in our customer growth stage of innovators and early adopters. As we achieve a tipping point in brand visibility, once enough cars are on the road, we believe we will see a higher velocity of growth.
We continue to take serious action and a holistic data-driven approach to our marketing programs focused on qualified awareness, digital conversion, test drive experiences, and conversion to orders and deliveries. We're seeing some early wins. The number of test drives has nearly doubled in the first quarter from the fourth quarter of last year. I believe that seeing is believing, and once you experience the handling, the quality, the performance, and the interior space of Lucid Air for yourself, you'll understand the award-winning nature of our vehicles. We see test drives as the key stepping stone for customers considering this purchase of a Lucid Air. We launched our Dream Ahead Tour last month, which is designed to showcase the Lucid Air's game-changing electric vehicle performance and technology.
Consumers will have the opportunity to experience and drive our three Lucid Air models, the Lucid Air Pure, the Lucid Air Touring, and Grand Touring. They will do that in 42 key cities right across the USA. In fact, the White House promoted our Dream Ahead Tour as part of President Biden's EV Acceleration Challenge, highlighting actions to encourage EV deployment. I am also delighted to announce that Andrea Soriani recently joined Lucid as our new head of marketing. Andrea brings over 25 years of experience in luxury brands and automotive, having worked at companies such as Maserati, Ferrari, and TAG Heuer. We certainly expect the Lucid Air Sapphire and the Gravity SUV to further elevate awareness of the Lucid brand. There are many more grassroots efforts underway, capitalizing upon our incredibly passionate customers who are also our biggest advocates.
There's a misconception out there that Lucid Air's starting price is far higher than it actually is. Many people out there really believe that the Lucid Air is a $200,000 car, when the fact is that the starting price for a Lucid Air Pure is $87,400, which we believe is a truly compelling offering in the marketplace today. We're working on ways to achieve broader access. We started deliveries of the Lucid Airs with Stealth Appearance last month, and we'll deliver more Lucid Air Dream and Grand Tourings this quarter to customers in the EU and in Saudi Arabia. We've resolved some of the gating items, we'll continue to focus on ramping up production of the Stealth Appearance and components for international shipments in the second quarter.
We expect the Lucid Air Pure volumes in the back half to also ramp with the start of the Lucid Air Pure rear-wheel drive in North America. We're on track to produce over 10,000 vehicles in 2023, with company-wide initiatives ongoing that will enable higher volumes as market conditions allow. Sherry will go through guidance in greater detail. In closing, we recognize that we have more work to do, but we're making progress with our strategic priorities and the team is totally energized. Our mission and our optimism are unchanged. We're committed to a more innovative and environmentally sustainable future, designing, building, and delivering the best EVs on the market as we expand globally and develop more exceptional vehicles such as the Gravity SUV, which we plan to launch in 2024.
I am confident that we have the most advanced technology, we have the right operational infrastructure and the know-how to deliver, and we have a track record of tenacity that will make us stronger. With that, let me turn over to Sherry for an update on our financials. Sherry?
Sherry House (CFO)
Thank you, Peter, and thank you to those who are taking the time to join us today. I'd like to begin by calling out a few recent highlights. Last month, we announced that Lucid joined the United Nations Global Compact, the world's largest corporate initiative advancing sustainable and socially responsible business practices. Sustainability is an integral part of what we do every day. It's our mission, and we view this as a natural progression in our sustainability journey as a company. Last month, we also signed the first annual agreement with the Human Resources Development Fund, or HRDF in Saudi Arabia. This agreement operationalizes the memorandum of understanding signed with the HRDF in October 2022 and will facilitate Lucid training programs and will fund skills development and salaries for Saudi nationals who work within our organizations within Saudi Arabia.
The Public Investment Fund has connected us to many of the ministries throughout Saudi Arabia. This HRDF agreement is another example of how those relationships and partnerships have resulted in significant economic and administrative support as we launch our international operations in the Middle East. The PIF has been a committed investor and a strategic partner for many years. We're very grateful for their partnership and support. I'd also on the SEC investigation that was previously disclosed on December 6, 2021. On April 27, 2023, SEC staff informed Lucid that the SEC concluded their investigation related to the business combination between Churchill Capital Corporation IV, which was Lucid's legal predecessor, and Atieva Inc. in certain projections and statements.
I'm pleased to inform you that they do not intend to recommend an enforcement action by the SEC against the company, which we view as a very positive outcome. We consider this matter closed. I also want to talk about the Form S-3 and Form S-8 that you may have seen filed today after market close. We amended the existing S-3 with the filing of a new S-3. As you'll recall, we consummated a private placement of common stock to Ayar for aggregate proceeds of $915 million in December 2022. In connection with this private placement, we agreed to register the shares with the SEC. The Form S-3 is intended to register these shares by amending the existing Form S-3 that we filed in August 2022. This action was to fulfill our contractual obligations regarding registration rights and is not a new issuance.
We also filed a Form S-8. As a reminder, the Form S-8 is primarily to register the additional shares made available under the company's second amended and restated 2021 Stock Incentive Plan, which was approved by the stockholders at the 2023 annual meeting on April 24th. Moving to the business. As Peter mentioned, in Q1, we made the very difficult decision to streamline our workforce to better position the company for the future. We took a $22.5 million restructuring charge, which was at the lower end of the $22 million-$28 million we indicated in late March, given that we were able to reallocate certain employees to other critical positions within the company. We anticipate the final part of this restructuring action, approximately $2 million, to occur in the second quarter. Turning to our 2023 first quarter financial results.
We produced 2,314 vehicles, up 225% year-over-year, and delivered 1,406 vehicles, up approximately 291% year-over-year, making Q1 2023 our second highest performing quarter in terms of production and delivery volumes, though its performance was less than Q4 2022. As we guided last quarter, we expected Q1 to be down significantly versus Q4 2022 while we work to drive up qualified awareness of our world-class products and also work to unlock production of Stealth, the European, and the Middle East variants. As Peter mentioned, we've now resolved some of those gating items and are focused on ramping these three areas further in Q2. For Q1, we recorded revenue of $149.4 million, which represented a year-over-year increase of 159%.
Cost of revenue was $500.5 million for the first quarter. Our gross margin was down on a quarter-over-quarter basis. This reduction was driven by lower volumes, which we signaled would be down in our Q4 earnings call in February. As part of that $500.5 million in cost of revenue, we recorded impairment charges of approximately $227 million in Q1 related to lower of cost or net realizable value, which we also refer to as LCNRV, obsolescence, and losses from firm purchase commitments. Moving to operating expenses. R&D expense totaled approximately $229.8 million, up 3.8% sequentially, due in part to Gravity testing and tooling. Peter spoke about Gravity, and we're very excited that road testing has already begun.
This increase was partially offset by the execution of cost initiatives to reduce outside services as well as freight. SG&A expense was approximately $168.8 million, down 1.2% sequentially. The sequential decrease was primarily due to lower base staff compensation and IT expenses. While we are intently focused on optimizing costs, which I will talk about in a moment, it's equally important to note that we are continuing to invest behind our strategic and growth priorities, including sales and service, customer care, and the build-out of international offices and infrastructure. To that end, in the first quarter, we're excited to have opened five new studios and service centers.
Three are international sites, with one each in Montreal, Toronto, and Oslo, Norway, and two are in the U.S., with one in the Washington, D.C., area and the second in the San Francisco Bay Area. This brought our total at the end of the quarter to 40. We'll continue to be strategic and judicious with our site expansions and are utilizing cost-effective pop-up studios with great effect to complement our studios for brand awareness. On the service side, we ended Q1 with 38 mobile vans in the fleet and 73 nationwide approved body shops to ensure high customer satisfaction as the fleet of Lucid vehicles continues to grow. Our stock-based compensation in the quarter was $55.3 million. We also recorded a non-cash expense of $40.8 million related to the change in fair value of our common stock warrant liability.
As a reminder, this non-cash impact can be influenced quarter to quarter by a number of factors, with one of the larger factors being Lucid's share price at the end of the quarter. In Q1, we achieved an adjusted EBITDA loss of $643.9 million. Moving to the balance sheet. We ended the quarter with just over $3.4 billion in cash equivalents and investments, with total liquidity of approximately $4.1 billion. We're very proud of our ability to consistently sustain a strong balance sheet over time.
We've been able to access a variety of funding options from the $2 billion green convertible notes offering at the end of 2021 to the $1.5 billion ATM in private placement at the end of 2022, alongside government support in Saudi Arabia and the large $1 billion ABL facility we put in place with a world-class banking syndicate. We'll continue to take a holistic and opportunistic approach towards funding the business, and we continue to believe that we have access to various options in debt and equity markets, as well as access to low-cost government programs. Turning to inventory.
Inventory increased sequentially due to the pace of our production volume ramp versus delivery in the quarter, raw materials associated with new vehicle variants that we are now producing, and a higher volume of in-transit inventory as we move the remainder of the components which are eligible for ocean transport to sea. Over the balance of the year, we expect a significant reduction in raw material days of inventory on hand as supply chain pressures ease somewhat, we obtain more predictability in the transportation channels, and we refine our inventory management processes and systems. Capital expenditures were $242 million in Q1. Now moving to the outlook. We are on track to produce over 10,000 vehicles in 2023, with company-wide initiatives ongoing that will enable Lucid to pivot to higher volumes as market conditions allow.
While we typically don't provide delivery guidance, we wanted to provide some directional color to help you with your modeling. For Q2, we are targeting deliveries to be up sequentially. We now have Pures in all U.S. showrooms for test drives, and we have a broader set of buildable configurations available, though it is important to note that we are still scaling those programs and we're continuing to work on our sales and qualified awareness initiatives. We expect that Q3 production and delivery numbers will ultimately be determined by how fast we are able to ramp the Pure buildable configuration. And as for Q4, we are expecting that to be our largest quarter of the year. While I would again caution that there are many controllable and uncontrollable variables that can affect gross margin, I wanna provide some context on our expectation for the direction of gross margin this year.
In the second quarter, we expect improvement on higher sequential volume. We also expect to realize improvements throughout the year as a result of our cost efficiency and cost optimization efforts. Specifically, our workforce restructuring in the first quarter is expected to result in annualized cost savings of approximately $91 million, geared towards cost of revenue, with the balance of the annual savings attributed to OpEx. You will start to see the full impact of the savings in Q2, plus the approximately $2 million restructuring charge that we mentioned above and which will hit in Q2. Second, we've been working a number of bill of material cost reduction efforts. We're expecting to see a cost savings by the end of the year, not necessarily throughout the year, with more reductions already identified for 2024.
Third, we have restructured a number of our freight contracts, and we believe that we'll continue to see improvements in this area over time. Lastly, we're working diligently to reduce the days outstanding of our raw material inventory. Over the past 18 months, we have held additional inventory due to concerns on part availability and logistics slowdowns, and in some cases, banking of parts due to tooling capacity planning. However, this excess inventory has significant storage costs, reduces our ability to benefit from commodity price reductions that are now occurring, and also increases risk for obsolescence as some parts expire or are outdated due to engineering changes. We believe that there is significant savings as we unwind some of this excess inventory and simultaneously refine our tracking and inventory systems. These actions will both reduce our working capital and our cost of revenue.
Other growth margin tailwinds include the opportunity from the Inflation Reduction Act, which we think could contribute as much as $2,000 per vehicle, and the regulatory environment is also getting more stringent, and we see opportunity on the emission credit side around the world. Recall, we signed our first emission credit deal in Q4 of 2022. Regarding our liquidity position, we ended the quarter with approximately $4.1 billion in total liquidity, which we believe provides sufficient capital at least into the second quarter of 2024. Moving to CapEx. We expect capital expenditures for 2023 to be between $1.4 billion and $1.6 billion, reflecting some efficiencies which were identified over the last quarter and deferrals in our capital outlay.
CapEx will support our continued growth objectives as we strategically invest in manufacturing capacity and capabilities, our retail studios and service center capabilities across the globe, and development of different products and technologies, and other areas supporting growth of Lucid's business. Phase two of the factory build out in Arizona is progressing. We believe we'll benefit from a number of cost efficiencies, including moving logistics more fully on-site and later bringing stamping in-house. We're also looking at bringing Phase two online in stages on a shop-by-shop basis, which we expect will allow us to defer some capital expenditures and associated depreciation expense until 2024 without a delay in the estimated Gravity timing.
With regard to our manufacturing progress in the Middle East, the first semi-knockdown, also referred to as SKD facility in Saudi Arabia, with capacity of up to 5,000 units, is nearly complete. Equipment and installation will begin next month. We had a ribbon cutting for our SKD building in Casa Grande, Arizona, trained up staff that came over from the Middle East. We expect to be operational in Saudi Arabia in Q3. This is very exciting and exactly where we want to be. In closing, I wanna express my gratitude to the entire Lucid team, as well as our investors, partners, suppliers, and customers. With your support and commitment, we are several steps closer to realizing an environmentally sustainable future. With that, let me turn it back to Maynard to get your questions. Maynard.
Maynard Um (Head of Investor Relations)
Thanks, Sherry. We'll now start the Q&A portion of the call. We'll start by taking Q&A from our retail investors through the Say platform, very important constituency of our shareholder base, followed by live analyst questions. Our first retail question is, Peter, you have said, "I just like to underpromise and like to overdeliver." You promised 20,000 deliveries in 2022 and 49,000 in 2023. We got 4,000 in 2022, and guidance is just 10,000-14,000 for 2023. When will we see underpromising and overdelivering? It has been the complete opposite so far.
Peter Rawlinson (CEO and CTO)
Thank you, Maynard. I'd just like to say, start by saying to everyone, I acknowledge and empathize with the frustration. I take this very seriously. you know, underpromising and overdelivering isn't about setting low standards or being complacent. It's about being realistic and proactive and then going above and beyond to try to exceed expectations. We as a management team, we take this very seriously. back in 21, hardly anyone could have foreseen the disruption to the logistics and supply chain that we saw in 2022 that affected the whole industry. It wasn't just Lucid. It was a bunch of other car companies. Very established names were affected the same way.
you know, I was part of a team that worked night and day in that factory to resolve issues throughout 2022, and as a huge team effort, we did that. Now we're facing challenges in the market, macroeconomic effects and high interest rates, which do impact, we've seen the withdrawal of the federal tax incentive at the end of 2022. These are factors which are very difficult to predict. When we guide, we do so with absolute honesty and integrity to the very best that we are able to estimate. I totally empathize with our shareholders who are here with us through the long run.
I nevertheless believe that this is a technology race, that the technology that we've developed is unique, it's hugely differentiating, it will enable us to push the price of cars down because we've got more efficiency, which means we can go further with less battery energy, which means we can go the same distance as anyone else with smaller batteries. Batteries are the high-cost item, which gives us an advantage in terms of potential gross margin, and I believe this will come to bear in the future. We've also got compelling products coming. We've got Sapphire, which is gonna be a halo product for the brand and help grow brand awareness. As we know that is a limiting factor right now.
We've got the big one for production coming next year and on track, the Gravity, which I think is gonna be a seminal product. I temper this with unerring optimism for the future for Lucid.
Maynard Um (Head of Investor Relations)
Thanks, Peter. The second question is, would you consider launching the Gravity with a more price-accessible trims first to attract more buyers considering the current economy conditions?
Sherry House (CFO)
Yeah. Firstly, I would say that from a principal perspective and given where we are in the lifecycle maturity of our company, we do think it's important to balance between volume and price, if not to optimize one to the detriment of the other. Your question is timely because we have been studying this topic, looking at launch cadence, the time between launches and the price elasticity curves, and where the intersection of those end up optimizing for the company. It's still a little bit early for us to comment on our intended approach, but what I can say is that we've already sourced about 80% of the components on the Gravity. It's going really well, and we've been able to stay within our cost targets, which will ultimately give us maximum flexibility to react to dynamic market conditions over time.
We're also taking lessons learned from the Air and looking how we shrink the amount of time between trim launches, hence getting all buildable configurations into all regions out to the public faster. Finally, we know it's important that customers are aware of the full price spectrum for the vehicle. We found that a lot of people simply don't know that we offer, in the case of an Air, a vehicle with a starting price of $87,000, as Peter mentioned a few moments ago, and hence awareness is something that we continue to focus on.
We'll keep you posted if we can share more, perhaps at the Gravity unveil later this year and in 2024 as we approach starter production.
Maynard Um (Head of Investor Relations)
Thanks, uncertain. Can we turn it over to phone questions, please?
Operator (participant)
Sure. Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder to ask the question, please press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please stand by for our first question. Our first question comes from the line of Chris Pierce with Needham & Company. Your line is open.
Chris Pierce (Senior Research Analyst)
Hey, good afternoon. Just a clarification. Did I hear you right that test drives are up 2x in 1Q 2023 versus the fourth quarter last year? If that is the case, I was just curious what was driving that, given the Dream Ahead Tour launched in the second quarter, I believe.
Peter Rawlinson (CEO and CTO)
That is correct. It has been a whole holistic series of activities that we've initiated, which collectively will form the basis for our forthcoming marketing strategy. It's not just been the Dream Ahead Tour. That's garnering a lot of test drives. We've been much more proactive, both at studio level through initiatives that we've undertaken from headquarters here to get more people in the car. People are blown away by the sportiness, the driver engagement, the refinement, the comfort of driving a Lucid Air. People who have never driven EVs before are attracted to this. It's all about getting people behind the wheel to experience. Very few people will actually buy a car without experiencing a test drive. I see this as a conduit, a sort of gateway to a future purchase and ownership experience.
Chris Pierce (Senior Research Analyst)
Okay. Just lastly for me, with the cars available on the website right now, cars you have in inventory, is there something you're doing to that coincides with the test drives or the Dream Ahead to kind of work through that inventory? Or is it just about whatever specifications or configurations a customer wants, you'll build that, you know, based on whatever they order? I just kinda wanna get a sense of, I know you're not preferencing time or price, but how you're kind of thinking about, you know, those two dynamics?
Peter Rawlinson (CEO and CTO)
We're reconfiguring the website to make the customer experience more seamless, more straightforward. We're showing the cars that we have currently available that can be spec-ed on that website. Of course, we're building to order. We've recently introduced the Stealth, the dark side look of Lucid Air, and that's really attracting a very different audience. There's a very different vibe, a more youthful appearance to that car. It's a very handsome manifestation of the range. We're doing all those things. We've got increasing volumes of Touring out there. We've got Tourings in the studio to experience and test drives are undergoing. Of course, we're bringing more and more affordable versions of Air Pure, the Air Pure coming out.
Later this year, we'll be bringing the rear wheel drive variant of the Air Pure out. Remember that although that many people believe that a Lucid Air is a $200,000 car, it actually starts at $87,400. We need to really dispel this myth.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Please stand by for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of John Murphy with Bank of America. Your line is open.
John Murphy (Managing Director and Lead U.S. Auto Equity Research Analyst)
Good afternoon, guys. Peter, in your comments, it sounded like you were alluding to potentially licensing or selling the powertrain technology. It sounded like that was actually, you know, pretty far along, potentially with some customers. I'm just curious if you can comment on that or give us any other color as to what those comments meant?
Peter Rawlinson (CEO and CTO)
No, John, I'm not in a position to disclose anything tangible at this juncture, as I said on earlier. We continue to receive incoming interest. I think there's a growing awareness that we have something very, very special here in terms of performance and efficiency. If you can have something more efficient, you carry less batteries, so you're burdened with less battery weight, and this makes the car, really more agile and more sporty, more a driver-focused experience. The technology we have today is eminently suitable for higher performance vehicles with our drive units of 600-670 horsepower capability. We develop lower power units, more affordable units for a mid-sized platform in a few years' time, it's vetted that technology would be, you know, more appropriate for more mainstream manufacturers.
We've not proactively gone out to seek any engagement in this arena, but we've had multiple OEMs come speak to us, and we are in dialogue with several right now. That's all I really can disclose at this juncture.
John Murphy (Managing Director and Lead U.S. Auto Equity Research Analyst)
Okay. Then Sherry, maybe just two quick financials questions for you.
Sherry House (CFO)
Sure.
John Murphy (Managing Director and Lead U.S. Auto Equity Research Analyst)
The $411 million in finished goods inventory would indicate there's almost 4,000 units, you know, in stock. Is that, you know, about riders or something else in that finished goods inventory that would be considered that wouldn't be a completed vehicle?
Sherry House (CFO)
Yeah, that is a little bit misleading, so I'm glad you asked the question, John. The finished goods inventory has the inventory that is available for sale, but it also includes our test fleet vehicles, loaner vehicles that we have in order to give optimal customer care experiences, you know, for the end customer, showroom cars as well. These are vehicles that ultimately, after, you know, a few thousand mi on them, or perhaps no mi on them in the case of showroom cars or media cars, that we will ultimately sell, but they're not available for sale today. It's important to differentiate between available for sale today and finished good inventory that is being used for other customer-facing purposes.
John Murphy (Managing Director and Lead U.S. Auto Equity Research Analyst)
Okay. Then just the other financial question. I mean, there's a lot going on right now, so I haven't had a chance to completely go through that S-3. It sure looks like-
Sherry House (CFO)
Sure.
John Murphy (Managing Director and Lead U.S. Auto Equity Research Analyst)
a mixed shelf. I mean, is there the availability for you to raise material amounts of capital under that shelf that's been filed? I mean. I'm sorry. I, once again, haven't gone through the details there, but it looks at first blush like there's a lot of room for you to raise capital.
Sherry House (CFO)
Well, again, this is not a new issuance. This was really just a contractual obligation that was associated with the subscription agreement that we did with the PIF back in December of 2022.
John Murphy (Managing Director and Lead U.S. Auto Equity Research Analyst)
Okay. Great. Thank you very much, guys.
Sherry House (CFO)
Okay.
Peter Rawlinson (CEO and CTO)
Thank you, John.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Please stand by for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Andres Sheppard with Cantor Fitzgerald. Your line is open.
Andres Sheppard (Senior Equity Research Analyst)
Hi, good afternoon, everyone. Congrats on the quarter, thanks for taking our questions. Peter, I wanted to perhaps follow up from one of the last questions in terms of the licensing. You know, I realize you're not providing additional color on that. I'm seeing if maybe I can ask the question slightly differently. You know, given the slight reduction in the production guidance for this year and gross margins where they are, I guess, what is the reluctance to introduce this as a new revenue stream? You have the proof of concept with the Formula E series. You know, continue to talk about the technology and how superior it is relative to competitors. I'm just trying to understand, you know, why not introduce this sooner rather than later. Thank you.
Peter Rawlinson (CEO and CTO)
There's no reluctance on our part. We're very open and engaged. You know, we have to prioritize here. Last year, my laser focus was working crazy hours in the factory. That's what I was doing, crazy hours to resolve logistics and supply chain issues. My laser focus right now is amplifying for brand awareness and creating a cohesive strategy with Andrea to market this brand and make many more people aware that we've got the best car on the planet. Our tech roadmap, I believe is extraordinary. We will be launching progressively more affordable versions of our tech, which would be appropriate for OEs in different parts strata of the market. You know, there's nothing tangible to announce right now.
We are in dialogue with third parties, and you know, I will make an appropriate announcement should that bear fruit. There's no reluctance on our part. We're open and receptive, but I really have to focus on our products right now rather than proactively chasing licensing.
Andres Sheppard (Senior Equity Research Analyst)
Got it. Okay. Understood. Thanks, Peter.
Peter Rawlinson (CEO and CTO)
Thank you.
Andres Sheppard (Senior Equity Research Analyst)
Maybe as a quick follow-up, was wondering if you can perhaps just give us any color on the deliveries starting to Saudi Arabia, you know, as part of the major agreements. There was a brief comment there from Sherry at the end. Sorry if I missed it. Just wondering if maybe you can elaborate a bit further, you know, just in terms of how you see those progressing. Yeah. Thanks.
Sherry House (CFO)
Yeah. I think you're referring to the Ministry of Finance agreement that we have, in which they have committed up to 50,000, maybe up to a total with the option for another 50,000, up to a total of 100,000 units over the next 10 years. We are progressing those conversations. We are in active dialogue. We're in the process of building out the specs for the first vehicles that they want to receive later this year. That is actively ongoing.
Andres Sheppard (Senior Equity Research Analyst)
Okay. Thanks, guys. Congrats again. I'll pass it on. Thank you.
Peter Rawlinson (CEO and CTO)
Thank you.
Sherry House (CFO)
Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Please stand by for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Steven Fox with Fox Advisors. The line's open.
Steven Fox (Founder and CEO)
Hi. Good afternoon. Two questions, if I could. First of all, the change in guidance in terms of going from 10,000-14,000 to 10,000, how much of that would you say is related to just some concerns on the macro or your ability to build brand versus just factory production issues? Any details you could provide on that? Then I have a follow-up.
Peter Rawlinson (CEO and CTO)
Yeah. I think it's important as we take a very responsible perspective of this, that we match the cars that we build, the production volumes, with the cars that we deliver, and that's the balancing act. Certainly we believe that the macroeconomics are playing a part in the deliveries right now. We also believe that the interest rates play a part, even for a high-end product, even in this part of the market, interest rates do provide a headwind. We've got initiatives within the company to turn the faucets on to up the volumes should those market conditions improve. You know, we're ready to scale up pending that. Also, as we amplify brand awareness.
Also I come back to this misconception, which seems to be out there that, yes, people believe it's a $200,000 car, and it's actually the entry level price is $87,400. It's probably conceivable that people think of it as a $200,000 car 'cause it's so amazing. Actually it's much more attainable, and we need to spread that word as well.
Steven Fox (Founder and CEO)
Great, that's helpful. Then just in terms of, you mentioned maybe bringing phase 2 online in stages. Can you just talk to sort of the triggering point for that and whether, I don't know whether if you focus on certain stages besides, the CapEx efficiencies, it helps in any other ways or, in terms of how the vehicle production goes from a cost standpoint and your ability to react to changes in demand. Thank you.
Sherry House (CFO)
Yeah. Yeah, no, I think it's an important question. We're in the process of adding significant, I think 2.85 million additional sq ft in the Arizona Casa Grande facilities, and it's a number of our shops are being either expanded or new buildings. What we're finding is that as we look at our production plans, that we have the ability to continue to eke out a bit more volume out of some of our existing machinery tooling equipment in the existing shops for a bit longer, which would allow us to take certain of the shops, you know, like stamping, perhaps paint, and potentially delay the onboarding of those, hence you will delay the depreciation expense that accompanies that particular machinery, tooling equipment in facility to a little bit longer.
The other thing we're doing is we're really carefully looking at all of the equipment that's going in each of these shops, and to the extent that there is volume equipment that could potentially be delayed, like the addition of additional robots, for instance, we're looking to put those in place and activate those as they're needed versus doing it all at one time. The other thing that's really unique about what we're doing in the general assembly hall is that we're gonna have the ability to dial up the jobs per hour between a few different jobs per hour points.
It's not a unit step, increase in the direct labor and bringing on the equipment, but instead, we'll have the ability to dial that up gradually, and we're gonna work to be really thoughtful about that so we can minimize depreciation expense and also the just efficiency of the workforce as well.
Steven Fox (Founder and CEO)
Great. That's all very helpful. Appreciate the answers. Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Please stand by for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Doug Dutton with Evercore. Your line is open.
Doug Dutton (VP and Equity Research Analyst)
Thank you. Hi, Peter, Sherry, and team. You know, looking at ASPs, they were about $106,000 per vehicle this quarter. That either implies some heavy discounting, you know, below SRP or a lot of pure trends. Can you maybe speak a little more to that and how we can think about that going forward?
Sherry House (CFO)
I think that when you think about the mix as it starts to differ from 2022, you're starting to have more dominance in trims other than Grand Touring and Dream, right? Now you start having more prevalence of Touring. We're starting to get Pure in there. As you go forward through the balance of this year, there is going to continue to be healthy mix because some of the higher trim levels are going to start going and are going to the Middle East and Europe. You're going to start to see the exposure of those products, those higher end products in those regions while you simultaneously start to ramp Pure in the U.S. and then later send that overseas as you're exiting the year and into 2024. You're going to continue to see this mix of trims.
We did have a 7,500 kind of continuation program that lasted the first couple of months of the year, couple few months of the year, and that also is reflected in the revenue numbers that you do see.
Doug Dutton (VP and Equity Research Analyst)
Okay. It's safe to say that $7,500 continuation program will come off, going forward throughout 2023.
Sherry House (CFO)
It did come off. Yes.
Doug Dutton (VP and Equity Research Analyst)
Yes. Okay. Just one quick modeling question for you, Sherry, on the LCNRV cadence. You know, is there any sort of guide on how we might see those charges hit in the remainder of this year and the next, just so that we can, you know, lay it out cleanly in the model and understand, you know, how those might affect the bottom line?
Sherry House (CFO)
Yeah, no, it's a great question. The LCNRV charges have been really kind of between $180 million, $200 million-ish, $220 million the last three quarters. We've kinda seen it basically leveling off. We do expect to see an improvement of that over time because part of the charge that's associated with the inventory we have on hand, given my comments that we're looking to reduce the days outstanding inventory on hand and not bringing fresh inventory in in terms of raw material, and also work in process, finished goods, we would expect that to start to taper down. As you're looking forward this year, we are expecting some reduction in that over time. The other thing that we have had in some impairments there is we had mentioned some obsolescence, we had mentioned some scrap.
I had mentioned the fact that we have some different activities ongoing to really address that in a more proactive way. That's partly us improving our systems. It's partly us not having to hold as much inventory on a precautionary basis because we're not experiencing the same supply chain issues and the same COVID issues that we had in the past. Bringing down that inventory, making sure it's more current inventory, will also improve the situation throughout the year.
Doug Dutton (VP and Equity Research Analyst)
Understood. Thank you for the detailed answer.
Sherry House (CFO)
Of course. Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Please stand by for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Tobias Beith with Redburn. Your line is open.
Tobias Beith (Equity Research Analyst)
Hi. Thanks for taking my question. If we exclude the non-cash inventory write-down charge, your COGS per unit only improved by about 8% versus the fourth quarter of 2022, which likely reflects the rotation towards the lower content Pure and Touring variants, but also some of the discounts that you just mentioned. Are you able to provide some data points for analysts and investors on the work that's being done internally to remove the costs from the vehicle?
Sherry House (CFO)
Yeah, absolutely. I mentioned a few of them in my prepared remarks, but let me provide some additional context. Some of the work that's being done is on bill of material cost down. Now they have two different flavors. One part is commercial agreements that we have with our suppliers in improving piece price costs. Some of that happens, you know, as you're negotiating additional volume with them on new programs, they become more open to negotiating down piece price on current programs. That's part of the effect. The other effect is when we are doing engineering changes that have a corresponding cost increase as well.
BOM cost is certainly something that we are expecting to see throughout the year, though you have to remember when you've got inventory on hand and you're bringing new lower cost parts in, you gotta go through that inventory first. That's why I guided earlier that you're gonna start to see the impact of that more towards the end of the year and also as you get into 2024, because some of these items we know will actually take effect in 2024. Some of the other areas where we've been seeing some really good progress has been in freight, that'll start to show up more in Q2 and Q3 as we've renegotiated some of our contracts there. Also, we're seeing improvements in manufacturing overhead as well.
As a result of the workforce reduction, there's improvements that you're gonna start seeing. More of it's gonna be in cost to revenues than in OpEx, and you're gonna start seeing that in Q2. These are different, cost down initiatives that will start flowing through the gross margin. Of course, we talked about the greenhouse gas credits, the Inflation Reduction Act, some of those things, some of the trims that we have, those will start hitting a little bit later in the year, is our expectation.
Tobias Beith (Equity Research Analyst)
Okay, cool. Thank you. I guess my second question is that the Lucid Air began production roughly one year after beta prototyping test-testing began, and clearly COVID impacted some of the start of production timeline. Shouldn't analysts and investors use the same timeline to conclude that the Gravity SUV begins production in roughly nine to 12 months from now, given your announcement that this nameplate has just begun road testing?
Peter Rawlinson (CEO and CTO)
I All I can say is that we've got to get the product absolutely right. There is a gestation period between beta and start of production. There's also a nomenclature issue here. We're on target for start of production late 2024 for the Gravity.
Tobias Beith (Equity Research Analyst)
Okay, cool. Well, perhaps maybe could you outline exactly what needs to happen, between now and the start of production, maybe so that we can track it in real time? I don't know when you expect the vehicle.
Peter Rawlinson (CEO and CTO)
Yeah.
Tobias Beith (Equity Research Analyst)
to get homologated, et cetera, et cetera.
Peter Rawlinson (CEO and CTO)
Well, I mean, homologation comes relatively late because that has to be conducted to process some tooling, representative levels of authenticity that represent production. Right now we're road testing the beta vehicles for the core attributes, structural integrity, drivability, suspension tuning. We're starting on some of the brake development, the traction control, the anti-lock braking systems, the core attributes of the vehicle. We will move to a phase of interior development. They want to have representative interiors at this stage. Later this year, we'll move to betas with representative interiors. We can do all that development. The long lead tooling items are being kicked off because some of the parts take over a year to tool.
We'll go through a pre-production run through next spring, culminating in production late 2024. On track. I believe it will be a seminal product. Gravity is on track. It's the big one. It's gonna be a landmark. seven-seater, third row, three-row, super practical, super high performance, extraordinary range, extraordinary performance attributes.
Tobias Beith (Equity Research Analyst)
Great. This has been super helpful. Thank you. I'll pass the line on.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Please stand by for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Ron Jewsikow with Guggenheim. Your line is open.
Ron Jewsikow (Director and Lead Auto Equity Research Analyst)
Good evening, thanks for taking my questions. Peter, just wanted to get your thoughts on kind of competitive dynamics in the market right now. From our vantage point, it feels like a pretty challenging market for luxury electric vehicles, but wanted to get your view on if price cuts from one of your large domestic competitors on their luxury line of vehicles is having any impact on demand for Lucid vehicles.
Peter Rawlinson (CEO and CTO)
I think what you're referring to is perhaps a different part of the market. I believe that the reason there is a challenge to the entire market right now because of macroeconomics and because of interest rates, which actually do affect this place of the market. you know, we're seeing key competitors from Germany discounting their products very heavily. That's not just the U.S. manufacturer that you may be referencing. The Germans are heavily discounting their vehicles. I think there are challenges right across the marketplace. I think what we need to do is just amplify awareness, just how compelling our product is.
We've got better range, we've got better interior comfort, we've got more leg room, we're faster charging, we're more efficient, we're higher technology. We've got a fundamentally superior driver engagement experience. I was taking some potential customers for a test drive just yesterday, and they were just blown away by the overall driving and riding experience. We just need to get more people behind the wheel. That's what this is about. We don't have a 100-year heritage or history. We don't have an existing customer base. We need to win new advocates, new customers.
Ron Jewsikow (Director and Lead Auto Equity Research Analyst)
That's super helpful. It's good to hear you're out in the field kind of promoting the product.
Peter Rawlinson (CEO and CTO)
I personally. Most weekends I'm out meeting customers at events, and the grassroots evangelism is growing. This doesn't happen overnight. This will take some time. We are planting acorns for a forest to come in the future. Make no mistake.
Ron Jewsikow (Director and Lead Auto Equity Research Analyst)
Makes perfect sense. I guess just you gave the data points around test drives and the number of cities you're going to for the Dream Ahead Tour. Is there anything you can commentary, you can provide on kind of the cadence for order trends since that started? Is it too early?
Peter Rawlinson (CEO and CTO)
It's too early to do that. There are so many factors that overlay, it's very dangerous. What I would say is this, that we've more than doubled the number of test drives in the last quarter. I believe that very few people would buy a car without test driving. I see that as a key stepping stone, a key conduit, a very relevant metric, and that is a step towards purchasing ownership. What we see is the best salespeople we've got are our customers that become advocates, and some of them even evangelize for us. There's something very genuine about that.
Sherry House (CFO)
Yeah. These test drives also give us personal touch points in order to enter into dialogue with the customers, better understanding their needs. It also, I would say that as we've set up the Lucid Financial Services business in the U.S. and then growing that overseas, that's another touch point where we can gain intelligence on what the customer needs, the pricing that they're looking for, the interest rates that they're looking for, and all of these are gonna be data points that we can use to refine offerings that are gonna best meet the customer needs.
Peter Rawlinson (CEO and CTO)
We're streamlining the whole customer experience, making the website much more intelligible, more intuitive, more user-friendly, and streamlining the ordering process, online.
Ron Jewsikow (Director and Lead Auto Equity Research Analyst)
That's super helpful. Just last quick question for me, kind of Gravity. Any learnings from the Air launch process over the last 12 to 18 months that'll help inform the Gravity launch, call it 12 months from now?
Peter Rawlinson (CEO and CTO)
Oh, yes, of course. I mean, we want to, we want to continuously improve. There's a continuous improvement and learning process, which we take very seriously, the teams here. The engineering team in Gravity works very closely with production team, design for process, design for manufacture. This is a really collaborative, a team sport, which we take very seriously. I really believe Gravity is gonna be a seminal product. I don't think there's gonna be anything out there that's even close. It's taken all technology that we've developed to date and more that we're gonna throw at this car because the problem with SUVs is getting range without an unduly large battery, which becomes super heavy, and then you lose payload capacity on the car.
This is a multidimensional, hugely technical challenge, and it's only now, I believe, that we're ready to really give it our best shot. Gravity is gonna be huge for us. I'm very excited about it.
Ron Jewsikow (Director and Lead Auto Equity Research Analyst)
That's very helpful color. Thanks, Peter, Sherry, and team. I'll hop back in the queue.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, due to the interest of time, I would now like to turn the call back to Maynard for closing remarks.
Maynard Um (Head of Investor Relations)
This concludes Lucid's first quarter 2023 earnings conference call. Thanks, thank you all for joining us today, and you may now disconnect.
