Yahoo Autos Could Lucid Motors Be Bought by Ford?
Chinese-backed, California-based startup Lucid Motors shows a lot of promise, but it needs a ton of money to get its first car, the Air sedan, into production. Bloomberg reports that Lucid is raising more money with the help of Morgan Stanley, and that it's held takeover talks with Ford executives.
Ford, which recently ousted CEO Mark Fields and installed Jim Hackett as his replacement, isn't looking to buy Lucid now, but it hasn't ruled out a future deal. Hackett is currently undertaking a 100-day plan to review Ford's business, looking for new revenue opportunities and trying to increase efficiency in the automaker's operations.
Lucid intends to build the Air sedan at a new factory in Arizona, but Bloomberg previously reported that it would only break ground once its funding was secured. At this year's New York Auto Show in April, Lucid's chief technology officer Peter Rawlinson said the automaker hopes to debut the production-spec Air in 2019.
"We don’t have the money in place. That’s why we need to secure Series D [funding] in order to execute this," Rawlinson told Bloomberg in April. "It would be irresponsible to start moving earth or start anything until we have a financial runway to execute that professionally and with absolute integrity."
Lucid just released video of a prototype Air sedan hitting 235 mph in testing. When we first met Rawlinson in March, he promised that the Air would offer Maybach-level luxury with Bugatti-esque performance in its highest-spec trim.
A takeover by Ford could help with Lucid's goal of getting the Air to market, while helping Ford with its ambitious electrification goals. Still, Lucid could find enough funding on its own if its investors are impressed by what they've seen so far.
In any case, the startup needs a lot of money to achieve its goals. Making cars isn't cheap.
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