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| Lucid Motors outperforms Ford in market capitalization |
Four years after Ford considered acquiring Lucid Motors, the electric car startup was worthy of being the Detroit-based automaker.
Lucid Motors' market value outperformed Ford after the startup reported its first-quarter financial results as a state-owned company and just weeks after it began selling its luxury electric Lucid Air.
Lucid Motors has a relatively long history as an electric vehicle startup, starting in 2007 as a battery company called Atieva.
But after switching to electric cars in 2016, Lucid Motors found its money ran out when other companies took off.
One option the company considered was a possible takeover by Ford.
According to a July 2017 report, Lucid Motors began its fourth round of institutional funding earlier this year with the help of investment bank Morgan Stanley. A source close to Lucid Motors said Ford's takeover offer was unexpected.
But this did not happen. Lucid Motors breathed a sigh of relief after striking a massive deal with Saudi Arabia, which now owns the majority of the startup.
On September 17, 2018, Lucid Motors announced that it is negotiating a financing of more than $1 billion with the Saudi Public Investment Fund. The investment was completed in April 2019.
Ford in a business dilemma
Ford was able to make significant investments in the Rivian itself, a deal that was beyond the control of rival General Motors.
Over the next several years, Lucid Motors spent billions of dollars in Saudi Arabia to bring Lucid Air into production.
The Saudi investment funded the engineering and final testing of the Lucid Air prototype. In addition to the initial phase of building a facility in Arizona and commercial production for Lucid Air, he also funded the company's global retail strategy.
He announced that he lost more than $1.5 billion this year alone in a hurry to ship Lucid Air to its customers. She spent about $5 billion in her life.
As a result, Lucid Motors' valuation has risen to nearly $90 billion. Ford's market value has grown to about $79 billion.
The boom also led to Lucid Motors outperforming General Motors. Its market capitalization is $90.9 billion.
Lucid Motors' market value is still well below that of Tesla. This year that number has grown to more than $1 trillion. It's also about $140 billion less than Rivian's market cap.
Lucid Motors still has a lot to do. The startup is still building a new plant in Arizona. He plans to produce 20,000 Lucid Air in 2022, then add electric SUVs by the end of the following year.