The Revolt of 'Zero Sales' Electric Cars That Outsold Volkswagen and Ford

Rivian Stock Rises for 5 Consecutive Trading Days
Market Cap Surpasses $140 Billion, Becomes 3rd Largest Car Maker
Lucid Soars 24% in One Day
Concerns Over Bubble Due to Lack of Visible Results

On the 10th (local time), the electric pickup truck R1T from the startup Rivian was displayed in front of the Nasdaq Stock Market in Times Square, New York, USA. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Electric truck company Rivian, with '0 dollars' in sales, has become the world's third-largest automobile company by market capitalization. Lucid, a luxury electric vehicle startup recording massive losses, saw its stock price surge 24% in one day, overtaking Ford in an instant. While this reflects expectations for the dawn of the electric vehicle era, concerns are also being raised about whether the market is excessively inflated.

According to US economic broadcaster CNBC on the 16th (local time), Lucid, regarded as a potential competitor to Tesla, surged 23.71% on the New York Stock Exchange that day, closing at $55.52. As a result, Lucid's market capitalization reached $89.9 billion (about 106 trillion won), surpassing Ford ($79.1 billion) to rank as the 6th largest automobile company by market cap.

Rivian, which debuted on Nasdaq on the 10th, surpassed the European largest automobile company Volkswagen with a market cap exceeding $140 billion on the New York Stock Exchange the same day. Rivian closed at $172.01, up 15.16% from the previous day, marking five consecutive trading days of gains.

Bloomberg News commented, "The electric vehicle craze has propelled Rivian past Volkswagen's market cap," and "Rivian has become the largest US company with zero sales."

Regarding the surge of Rivian and Lucid, the industry evaluates that a paradigm shift has occurred as Tesla, the leader in the electric vehicle industry, surpassed a $1 trillion market cap. Daniel Ives, an automotive analyst at Wedbush Securities, analyzed, "As Tesla's market value exceeded $1 trillion, the valuation paradigm in the electric vehicle sector has changed."

However, some voices argue that the evaluation of these companies is based on rosy prospects for the electric vehicle industry rather than visible achievements, raising concerns about a bubble.

Lucid has a total of 17,000 pre-orders but has not delivered any vehicles yet. The startup Rivian, founded in 2009, has delivered only 150 electric vehicles to date. Matthew Maley, chief market strategist at Wall Street asset management firm Miller Tabak, diagnosed, "This is another sign that a bubble is re-entering the market." He diagnosed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.