Unlike most automakers across the industry that are struggling primarily with a shortage of semiconductor chips at the moment, Lucid has a broader supply problem with quality concerns.
"We've got about 250 suppliers worldwide, notionally about 3,000 parts. And this has been really a phenomenon of just a small handful of our 250 suppliers," Rawlinson said of quality issues.
"We've been mainly impacted in commodity supply parts," Rawlinson said on the earnings call. "Trim parts for the exterior, even glass and carpet. So it's not the core technologies of the vehicle that are being impacted."
Lucid CFO Sherry House said there is still more work to be done across the supply chain.
"In situations when suppliers have not been able to deliver, there are multiple options to resolve these issues," she said.
Those included working directly with suppliers, switching suppliers or bringing production in-house.
Semiconductor shortages have had less of an impact. Lucid has been able to work around chip supply through software adjustments and using the spot market to secure chips critical to production, House said.
While Lucid is working to get its manufacturing woes in order, it's moving forward with expansion plans at the Arizona assembly plant. Capacity will grow from 34,000 vehicles a year in the current phase to 90,000 when the second phase is complete in late 2023, the company said.
In its original plans for the factory last year, Lucid had expected to begin production of the Gravity SUV before the end of 2023. It has now moved the launch to the first half of 2024.
The automaker also is looking at future manufacturing sites in China and Europe, House said.