"Electric car winter" is coming? Lucid (LCID.US) CEO says demand for electric cars in the US and Europe is slowing significantly

The CEO of Lucid Group (LCID.US), a U.S. electric car newcomer headquartered in California, stated that he personally sees a significant slowdown in demand for electric cars in the U.S. and European markets. The CEO's latest remarks echo the ongoing turbulence in global electric car demand this yearboth EV (electric vehicle) technology and the EV supply chain are accelerating, yet there are signs of a "cooling" in global demand. The cancellation of federal tax incentives for electric cars in the U.S. led to an early surge in purchases towards the third quarter of this year, as stated by Lucid's interim CEO Marc Winterhoff during a media interview on Wednesday. It is understood that Lucid's second model, the Gravity sport utility vehicle (SUV), will arrive in Europe by the end of this year and is expected to commence official deliveries in the first quarter of 2026. "We are still actively managing the backlog of orders, so we are to some extent shielded from the impact," Winterhoff stated. "But undoubtedly, market demand is indeed slowing down." Senior analyst team led by Adam Jones at Morgan Stanley earlier this week downgraded stock ratings for Lucid, Rivian, and Tesla, Inc., citing their expectation that the "electric vehicle winter" will continue into next year. Since the release of this research report by Morgan Stanley, Lucid's stock price has dropped by over 7%, and has plummeted by 59% this year. The graph above shows that Lucid lags behind its strongest competitors in the electric vehicle sector, particularly Rivian and Tesla, Inc., who have performed better in a year of fluctuating demand. Winterhoff, who took over as interim CEO after Peter Rawlinson, has repeatedly stated that Lucid's target of producing around 18,000 electric vehicles this year remains within a reasonable range. "We are doing everything in our power to ensure we meet this target," he stated in the interview. In the U.S., the end of the federal government tax credit for EVs (about $7,500 subsidy) under the Inflation Reduction Act is a significant turning point. The termination of this subsidy led many potential buyers to accelerate their purchases before the deadline, causing a spike in sales in the third quarter, but also signaling an inevitable slowdown thereafter. With the disappearance of the subsidy, the economic appeal of purchasing an electric car decreases, and some Wall Street sell-side analysis models have predicted that this change will significantly "suppress the rate of domestic EV adoption in the U.S." In Europe, the main factors affecting consumer willingness to purchase "new and expensive EVs" have been the historically high energy prices, inflation pressure, and rising cost of living. The promotion of EVs not only requires vehicles but also a reliable, convenient, and widely spread charging infrastructure. If the charging infrastructure is insufficient or inconvenient to use, it represents a significant psychological/actual obstacle for the vast potential consumers in the European market. Researchers in the European market have previously identified the "insufficient charging infrastructure + high battery costs" as important factors contributing to the slowdown in EV adoption.