電動車製造商 Lucid 每輛車虧損 338,000 美元，令投資者望而卻步 (2/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

EV Maker Lucid’s $338,000 Loss Per Car Turns Investors Off (2/2)

Esha Dey

Fri, October 6, 2023 at 7:07 a.m. PDT

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Once seen as the most credible competitors to Tesla Inc., Lucid and Rivian entered public markets in mid-to-late 2021, when market enthusiasm for new EV-makers were high. Their valuations soared before the tables rapidly turned in 2022 as traders veered from riskier growth investments. Lucid is down 91% from its peak, while Rivian has lost 89%.

Severe supply-chain shortages and surging prices of battery raw materials plagued them further, but troubles have stuck with Lucid this year. The company has struggled to ramp up sales, selling around 1,400 units in both the first and second quarter. For the third quarter, it is estimated to have sold about 2,100 cars. Rivian’s sales, on the other hand, have grown significantly every quarter so far this year.

The risk that Lucid may default on its debt payments is also climbing. According to Bloomberg Intelligence credit analyst Joel Levington, the company’s default risk is now at 16%, almost four times the median for global automotive manufacturers. “Lucid’s near-term strength is its cash balance of $5.2 billion, but its cash burn of almost $7 billion through 2024 tempers views,” Levington wrote in a note on Wednesday.

At the same time, the firm is trying to find a foothold in a market where Tesla already rules. The company makes a luxury electric sedan that competes with Tesla’s Model S, along with several new models rolled out by more established global carmakers such as Mercedes-Benz Group AG, BMW AG, and Volkswagen AG’s Porsche and Audi brands.

“The problem lies with how Lucid positioned itself — going after a luxury, smaller volume market, while Rivian is targeting a bigger addressable market,” said Tom Narayan, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets. That said, Narayan noted that “Rivian isn’t out of the woods either, though it is now in a better place compared to Lucid.”

Tech Chart of the Day

There was a time when the market values of both Rivian and Lucid eclipsed those of Detroit automakers Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. Now they’re worth less than half of those firms. As of last close, Ford led the pack with a value of nearly $48 billion, followed by GM at about $42 billion. Rivian is perched at $17 billion and Lucid is down at about $11 billion.

Translation

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Lucid 和 Rivian 一度被視為特斯拉公司最可靠的競爭對手，並於 2021 年中後期進入公開市場，當時市場對新電動車製造商的熱情很高。 隨著交易員放棄風險較高的成長型投資，它們的估值在 2022 年迅速扭轉之前飆升。 Lucid 較高峰下跌了 91%，而 Rivian 則下跌了 89%。

嚴重的供應鏈短缺和電池原材料價格的飆升進一步困擾著他們，而今年Lucid遇到了麻煩。 該公司一直在努力提高銷量，第一季和第二季均售出約 1,400 輛。 第三季預計售出約2,100輛汽車。 另一方面，今年迄今為止，Rivian 的銷售額每季都大幅增長。

Lucid 拖欠債務的風險也正在攀升。 據Bloomberg Intelligence 信貸分析師 Joel Levington 表示，該公司的違約風險目前為 16%，幾乎是全球汽車製造商中位數的四倍。 Levington 在周三的一份報告中寫道： “Lucid 的近期優勢在於其 52 億美元的現金餘額，但到 2024 年其接近 70 億美元的現金消耗，削弱了這看法。”

同時，該公司正試圖在特斯拉已經佔據主導地位的市場中找到立足點。 該公司生產一款與特斯拉 Model S 競爭的豪華電動轎車，以及更成熟的全球汽車製造商 Mercedes-Benz Group AG、寶馬、大眾汽車旗下保時捷和奧迪等所推出的幾款新車。

加拿大皇家銀行資本市場(RBC Capital Markets) 分析師 Tom Narayan 表示：「問題在於Lucid 的定位 - 追求高檔、規模較小的市場，而Rivian 則瞄準更大的可能賺取的潛在市場” 。儘管如此，Narayan 指出“Rivian 也沒有走出困境，儘管與 Lucid 相比，它現在處於更好的位置。”

每日科技圖表

曾經有一段時間，Rivian 和 Lucid 的市值都超過了底特律汽車製造商福特汽車公司和通用汽車公司。現在，它們的市值還不到這些公司的一半。 截至最後收盤，福特以近 480 億美元的市值位居榜首，通用汽車緊隨其後，市值約為 420 億美元。 Rivian 的股價為 170 億美元，Lucid 的股價則下跌至 110 億美元左右。

       So, there was a time when the market values of both Rivian and Lucid eclipsed those of Detroit automakers Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. Now they’re worth less than half of those firms. This shows that the US EV market is very volatile and the competition among manufactures is keen.