Lucid Doubled Its Vehicle Production in 2025. It's Still Not Time to Buy the Stock.

Lucid (NASDAQ: LCID), which makes the all-electric Air sedan and Gravity SUV, recently reported its fourth-quarter and full-year vehicle production numbers, and by most accounts, they're impressive.

The company's vehicle production jumped 155% in the quarter to 8,412 vehicles, which helped Lucid produce a total of 18,378 last year -- a 104% increase from 2024. Adding to the good news was the fact that the company delivered more than 15,800 to customers in 2025, a 55% increase from the previous year.

Lucid shareholders should be pleased with some of the progress the company is making. But investors waiting on the sidelines, trying to decide whether they should buy Lucid stock, shouldn't be convinced that now is the time to buy. Here's why.

Image source: Lucid.

Lucid is still producing a small number of vehicles

Lucid is undeniably making progress with its vehicle production. But it's still a rather small number of vehicles compared to competitors. For example, Tesla produced 1.6 million vehicles in 2025, and fellow electric vehicle (EV) start-up Rivian produced more than 42,000 vehicles.

Automakers don't have to produce the same number of vehicles to be successful, but Lucid is far behind the competition, and it's a little concerning that it's taking the company so long to truly ramp up production. Remember that Lucid started manufacturing vehicles back in 2021.

After several years of production hiccups and issues sourcing materials, Lucid is finally making progress, but with such a small number of vehicles, it's still hard to get excited about.

It's also worth noting that Lucid's management said at the beginning of 2025 that the company would produce 20,000 vehicles for the year. It then revised that figure down twice.

Lucid finally met its 2025 production goal ... after moving the goalposts a couple of times.

The company is still losing a lot of money, and the EV industry is on shaky ground

One thing potential investors and current Lucid shareholders should be especially concerned about right now is how expensive it is to keep Lucid running. The company reported a net loss of nearly $1 billion in Q3, with revenue of just $337 million (Q4 financial results will be released Feb. 24).

With less than 16,000 vehicles getting into customers' hands in all of 2025, Lucid certainly has its work cut out for it in 2026 if it expects to narrow its losses.

And the losses come at a particularly challenging time for the electric vehicle industry following the cancellation of EV tax credits that were worth up to $7,500. Demand for EVs has slowed down among consumers, with electric vehicles expected to account for just 6.6% of December 2025 auto sales, down from over 11% a year ago.

With Lucid's losses on the rise, EV demand slowing, and the company still producing a very small number of vehicles, it's difficult to see how Lucid works its way out of the difficult spot it's in.

Lucid is progressing, but it's not time to buy the stock just yet

It's important to give Lucid credit for increasing its vehicle production and deliveries, but the company's significant losses mean that investors should not be eager to buy the stock right now.

Lucid is trying to turn itself around, and I think 2026 could be a make-or-break year for the company. Investors should certainly keep up with Lucid's progress, but owning its shares still looks too risky right now.

Chris Neiger has positions in Rivian Automotive. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.