CRA Motoring & Technology – North America
By Matt Burns
The Lucid Air electric sedan will debut on September 9, 2020, and today the company is detailing its plan to sell and service those vehicles. The company says it will open 20 so-called “studio” and service locations through 2021. These locations will be located throughout North America and feel similar to Tesla’s customer locations.
Right now, the company is only revealing the location of several studio and service centers: two in Beverly Hills, California, San Jose, West Palm Beach, New York City, DC metro area, and at Lucid’s Silicon Valley headquarters in Newark, California.
Lucid is clearly careful about not calling these sales locations. To do so would require the company to comply with different state regulations regarding dealerships. In many states automakers are barred from selling vehicles to customers directly through a physical location. Instead, state regulations require automakers to use a third party — an independent dealership — to make the transaction. As is the case with Tesla, these locations by Lucid will help build brand awareness and assist customers in their online purchase.
As for service, Lucid is assembling a network of approved service centers, including mobile service providers and collision repair centers.