Emerging U.S. EV Makers on the Move

Lucid, Nikola, Lordstown, and others began full-scale production after Rivian

2023/02/08

Summary
Each company draws up its own product and market strategy, but many report delays in their launch plans
Rivian Automotive: Achieved production and sales of over 20,000 units of three commercial vehicle models (in 2022), but business losses increased
Lucid Motors: Over 7,000 units produced in 2022; plant to be built in Saudi Arabia
Lordstown Motors: Started delivering vehicles at the end of 2022; vehicle production plant sold to the Foxconn Technology Group
Karma Automotive: Sales of luxury PHV sedan, introduction of full EVs postponed
Fisker: Starts production of a mid-sized SUV in November 2022, accelerating the development of vehicle models by utilizing the resources of partner companies
Nikola: Started shipping electric semi trucks, and will promote market development of both EV and FCV heavy-duty trucks
Canoo: Announces delivery van orders from large customers and increased investment, but delays start of production
Faraday Future: Focusing on securing financing to begin production of luxury full-size crossovers in March 2023
Arrival: Starts production of electric vans in the U.K. and focuses on securing funding to expand into the U.S.
VinFast: Shipment of Vietnamese-made EVs to the U.S. begins, with U.S. production planned for 2024

Summary

VinFast, which unveiled its lineup for the U.S. at CES 2023, aims for U.S. production in 2024. (Source: VinFast)

While Tesla has made great forward strides to become the leader in the EV market among the emerging EV ventures in the U.S. that have been established one after another since 2000, other companies have also been developing products and preparing for production, and several major manufacturers, including Rivian, Lucid, and Nikola have started to introduce their own EV models to the market from the end of 2021 through 2022.

However, many companies, despite huge upfront investments, have repeatedly postponed their announced plans for market introduction because they have not been able to achieve production due to the recent rise in funding costs and supply chain constraints. Even those firms that barely managed to deliver the initial lots are struggling financially, with growing losses.

Nevertheless, even in such an environment, all of the companies have drawn up and are implementing their own growth strategies and scenarios for global expansion in their product strategies, production systems, and sales systems. In addition to unique product features and performance, many companies seek to gain competitiveness and market share by partnering with large fleet customers, increasing efficiency by outsourcing manufacturing or key components, or by securing funding from overseas funds or corporate groups.

In the EV market, full-scale competition has begun with many powerful players, such as existing major OEMs entering a wide range of segments and the champion Tesla cutting prices across the board. The question of whether emerging EV ventures will be able to build their own position in the EV market while securing funding depends on the speed of execution of their plans over the next one to two years and the market evaluation of their products.

In this report, as an update to the previous report (published in February 2022) that reported on the trends of emerging U.S. EV manufacturers, we arranged and report on the recent trends of these companies and their announced plans.