Production of their first car, the Lucid Air, begins later this year.
Lucid wants to “help” Tesla accelerate the adoption of EVs.
Lucid’s main target is the Mercedes-Benz S-Class drivers and owners.
The bottom line is that no matter the name, heritage, and pedigree the car company may have, if they build and sell an electric vehicle, they will irrevocably be compared to Tesla. Although Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson understands why his company and car is compared to Tesla, he says that his product is aimed at Mercedes-Benz S-Class customers.
No one will escape the comparisons, and many years will go by before Tesla becomes just another car maker. The latter has created the EV, the EV lifestyle, fast-forwarded the technology, and has become synonymous with electric vehicles. The difficulty with automakers such as Volkswagen (ID.4), Cadillac (LYRIQ), and Porsche (Taycan) is not being compared to Tesla that now has models in the four most important segments. These automakers would like to avoid being paralleled to Tesla as in many instances, the American EV company is still leagues ahead.
This will also apply to Lucid and the Air even though Rawlinson told Yahoo Finances the following: “I would say our main competitor is a car company; I highlight Mercedes Benz in terms of the attributes of Lucid Air. We’re going after S-class Mercedes, but it’s a natural comparison, and I accept that comparison with Tesla,”
No matter how luxurious or efficient, the Air is an expensive electric sedan which will compete against the Tesla Model S. And even if it’s more luxurious and refined, by the time the Air’s production is ramped up, Tesla will have updated the Model S in some way, shape or form to match or surpass the competition.
Lucid Air | Photo: Lucid
All car manufacturers’ marketing departments will have a tough job of convincing buyers that their EVs are not, regardless of the price, competition to Tesla vehicles. EV buyers are wiser than that so best they accept the inevitable and work with it.
The interview with Rawlinson touches on many other related topics and is worth the 8:36 minutes.
