Lucid Motors delivered more EVs in the first quarter of 2024 than it has in any other quarter, though it set the record by a very slim margin.
The Saudi-backed, California-based electric vehicle company said Tuesday morning that it shipped 1,967 luxury sedans in the quarter.
That’s just a few more than it shipped in the fourth quarter of 2022, when it set its previous record of 1,932 deliveries.
Lucid’s new delivery record comes as the company is struggling to find consistent demand for its pricey luxury sedan, the Air.
But it has not specified how many Air sedans have made it to the Kingdom to date.
Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech!
One thing that stood out to me was just how much fintech representation in their cohorts is shrinking.
So there was one-third the percentage of fintech companies this year compared to two years ago.
Analysis of the weekFintech funding slid by 16% quarter-over-quarter during the three-month period ended March 31, according to CB Insights’ Q1 2024 State of Venture Report.
During the three-month period, 904 investments were made into fintech startups, which was higher than 786 in the previous quarter, signaling smaller deal sizes.
Tesla is dropping prices of unsold Model Y SUVs in the U.S. by thousands of dollars in an attempt to clear out an unprecedented backlog of inventory.
The discounts come as Tesla once again made far more vehicles than it sold in the last quarter.
The company built 433,371 vehicles in the first quarter but only shipped 386,810, likely adding more than 40,000 EVs to its inventory glut.
It announced a $1,000 price hike was coming to the Model Y, its most popular vehicle, on April 1.
He has largely blamed the struggle on high interest rates, all while his company dramatically cut prices on the Model Y and Model 3 throughout 2023.
When it comes to funding, the fintech sector didn’t have a very good start to the year.
Fintech funding slid by 16% quarter-over-quarter during the three-month period, according to CB Insights’ Q1 2024 State of Venture Report.
But even more troubling than the double-digit dip was the fact that the $7.3 billion raised globally by fintech startups in the three-month period marked the lowest level the sector has seen since early 2017, according to the report.
During the three-month period, 904 investments were made into fintech startups.
Dollars raised and deal count is also down compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, when 786 fintech startups raised $8.7 billion.
Rivian has a challenging year ahead — and the first quarter is off to a tepid start.
Both of those figures are down from the fourth quarter of 2023, where it built 17,541 and shipped 13,972.
Rivian did signal that it plans to make roughly the same number of EVs as it did in 2023.
Producing and selling vehicles, which includes the R1S SUV, R1T pickup and two versions of a commercial electric van, has never been the company’s only challenge.
Tesla reported its own very weak first quarter sales on Tuesday.
Crucially, Tesla shipped fewer cars than it did in the first quarter of 2023, meaning this was the first year-over-year drop in sales in three years.
Production was also down year-over-year, which Tesla attributed to switching to making the new Model 3, as well as the other disruptions.
These drops come just two months after Tesla warned that sales growth could be “notably lower” in 2024 as it comes off a successful 2023 fueled by price cuts.
Bloomberg News reported last month that Tesla curtailed output at its Shanghai factory as a result of slower sales growth in the country.
Tesla tried to pull a few tricks at the end of the quarter to boost sales, as it usually does.
Thus, SaaS startups are not category-specific, instead sharing a business model approach more than any particular industry focus.
Among myriad SaaS startups, those focused on selling to business clients — a group often called enterprise SaaS — are a magnet for venture capital.
Since then, investment into enterprise SaaS startups has slowed.
Enterprise SaaS startups raised $21.9 billion, $45.0 billion, $55.1 billion and $58.3 billion in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively.
Perhaps a rate cut or two and a strong enterprise IPO are the tonic required to really reignite venture investment into enterprise SaaS.
This is the third round of layoffs for the EV company since July 2022 when Rivian cut 6% of its workforce.
On a full-year basis, Rivian reported revenue of $4.4 billion, up from $1.66 billion in 2022.
It brought in about $39 million in the fourth quarter and $73 million for the full year from the sale of regulatory credits.
On an adjusted basis, it reported a loss of $1.1 billion compared to a $1.5 billion loss in the same year-ago period.
“We took significant steps towards driving greater efficiency in 2023 gross profit per vehicle improved by approximately $81,000 when comparing the fourth quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter 2022,” Scaringe said on an earnings call Wednesday.
Tesla reported operating income of $2.06 billion in the fourth quarter, a 47% decrease from the same year-ago period.
Tesla spent $1.1 billion on research and development in the fourth quarter, a 35% from the same period last year.
Tesla was able to claw back some of its automotive industry-leading margins in the fourth quarter, thanks in part to a push to further reduce costs.
Energy GrowthWhile Tesla was cautious about vehicle growth in 2024, the company remains bullish on the growth of its energy storage business.
Storage deployments were up 125% year-over-year, even with a slower fourth quarter.
Tesla says EV sales growth may be “notably lower” in 2024 The automaker's earnings show a company at a profit-growth crossroadsTesla’s strategy to drive sales through price cuts combined with the cost of bringing the Cybertruck into production put pressure on profits in the fourth quarter, according to earnings reported Wednesday.
Tesla reported operating income of $2.06 billion in the fourth quarter, a 47% decrease from the same year-ago period.
Tesla spent $1.1 billion on research and development in the fourth quarter, a 35% from the same period last year.
Energy GrowthWhile Tesla was cautious about vehicle growth in 2024, the company remains very bullish on the growth of its energy storage business.
Storage deployments were up 125% year-over-year, even with a slower fourth quarter.
