Lucid Motors

Lucid Motors' SPAC merger with Churchill Capital Corp IV was the most hyped deal of the SPAC era. The stock surged to $57.75 before the merger even closed, giving the company a staggering $91 billion market cap — more than Ford or GM at the time — for a company that hadn't yet delivered a single car.

The Lucid Air sedan, designed by former Tesla chief engineer Peter Rawlinson, genuinely impressed automotive critics. It won MotorTrend Car of the Year in 2022 and offered the longest range of any EV. The technology was real, and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) provided deep-pocketed backing.

But production proved far harder than projected. Lucid delivered just 4,369 vehicles in 2022 against an original projection of 20,000. The luxury price point ($70K-$250K) limited the addressable market, especially as Tesla cut prices aggressively. Each car sold at a substantial loss as the company struggled with manufacturing ramp challenges at its Arizona factory.

By 2024, Lucid had accumulated over $10 billion in losses and required repeated capital infusions from Saudi PIF. The stock fell from its $57.75 peak to around $3, a 95% decline. Lucid remains alive thanks to Saudi backing — the PIF has invested over $8 billion — but it's the definition of a zombie: burning cash with no profitability in sight, sustained only by a sovereign wealth fund's patience.