- 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 trying to faucet into the Massive Three’s expertise pool to scale up operations
Lucid makes some fairly cool automobiles. 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 formidable machine, Lucid has been struggling to realize market share with its Air electrical sedan. It is trying to remedy that drawback with the discharge of the Gravity SUV and a extra reasonably priced mannequin underneath 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 Massive 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 automobiles for legacy carmakers.
Lucid would not want Detroit to show it easy methods to construct the underlying tech for a automobile. It is already achieved that and achieved it extraordinarily effectively. The automaker has earned its stripes by constructing out electrical drive models 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 by 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, however, is not even sufficiently old to vote. Naturally, it is nonetheless going by way of some rising pains largely surrounding how tough it’s to scale up automobile manufacturing. Tapping into native expertise offers Lucid perception into easy methods to successfully scale from producing automobiles by the 1000’s to the tens (and finally, a whole bunch) of 1000’s.
So whereas Lucid could also be gaining some engineers and R&D consultants, the actual expertise to be gained listed below are those that have connections in provide chains, logistics, and manufacturing planning. That is the place a number of the largest secrets and techniques in automotive manufacturing cover, and Lucid is hellbent on turning over each stone to seek out the appropriate individuals for the job.
Is it doable for Lucid to succeed by itself? Positive. But it surely’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 yr, it constructed simply 8,428 automobiles and offered them to six,001 prospects.
Maybe Tesla CEO Elon Musk was proper when he mentioned “prototypes are straightforward, manufacturing is difficult.”
Both approach, Lucid is exhibiting that it is placing its investments to good use. It desires to succeed, but it surely wants the appropriate individuals 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 canines and is not afraid to drag from Detroit’s expertise pool to take action.
