- Lucid opened a brand new workplace simply outdoors of Detroit
- The automaker has had hassle producing massive portions of automobiles prior to now
- It is seeking to faucet into the Huge Three’s expertise pool to scale up operations
Lucid makes some fairly cool vehicles. They’re flashy, quick, and a freakin’ marvel of engineering (do not imagine me? Simply watch a few of their tech talks). It is just like the early levels of Tesla, simply with extra consideration to construct high quality and extra investments from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
Regardless of constructing a powerful machine, Lucid has been struggling to realize market share with its Air electrical sedan. It is seeking to remedy that downside with the discharge of the Gravity SUV and a extra inexpensive mannequin beneath the $50,000 mark. Nonetheless, the California-based automaker is aware of that it wants extra than simply high-tech engineering to scale up and make its goals come true. That is the place legacy auto excels. And if you cannot beat ’em, poach ’em.
Lucid formally opened its so-called “Michigan workplace” this week. Formally, the situation is in Southfield, Michigan, which is, give or take, 15 miles from Detroit. Unofficially, it is within the Huge Three’s yard.
The automaker says it opened this plant to develop its R&D, engineering, and operations groups…which is tongue-in-cheek for poaching the core auto employees within the Detroit metro space who’ve been key within the success of designing, constructing, and launching vehicles for legacy carmakers.
Lucid does not want Detroit to show it the best way to construct the underlying tech for a automobile. It is already accomplished that and accomplished it extraordinarily effectively. The automaker has earned its stripes by constructing out electrical drive items able to, fairly frankly, wizardry. It is also earned a popularity for being a premium model with some slightly eye-catching styling. None of those are the departments during which Lucid wants assist.
Detroit is crawling with automotive experience. In spite of everything, Ford, GM, and Stellantis have spent actually a century perfecting the craft of large-scale manufacturing. Lucid, alternatively, is not even sufficiently old to vote. Naturally, it is nonetheless going by some rising pains largely surrounding how tough it’s to scale up automobile manufacturing. Tapping into native expertise offers Lucid perception into the best way to successfully scale from producing automobiles by the hundreds to the tens (and finally, tons of) of hundreds.
So whereas Lucid could also be gaining some engineers and R&D consultants, the true expertise to be gained listed below are those that have connections in provide chains, logistics, and manufacturing planning. That is the place a few of the largest secrets and techniques in automotive manufacturing conceal, and Lucid is hellbent on turning over each stone to search out the proper folks for the job.
Is it potential for Lucid to succeed by itself? Positive. Nevertheless it’s not going to be a stroll within the park. Lucid has already missed some essential manufacturing targets. For instance, it anticipated constructing 49,000 automobiles in 2023 and 90,000 in 2024. Final 12 months, it constructed simply 8,428 automobiles and bought them to six,001 prospects.
Maybe Tesla CEO Elon Musk was proper when he stated “prototypes are straightforward, manufacturing is tough.”
Both method, Lucid is exhibiting that it is placing its investments to good use. It desires to succeed, but it surely wants the proper folks to maintain the corporate’s head above water. And the transfer to Michigan is a transparent sign: Lucid desires to play on the identical stage as the large canine and is not afraid to drag from Detroit’s expertise pool to take action.
