(Bloomberg) -- Lucid Group Inc. is more than just a financial investment to Saudi Arabia, which sees the electric-vehicle maker as critical to diversifying its economy, the carmaker’s chief executive officer said.

“We’re in this together for the long run. Nobody wants this more than Saudi Arabia,” Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson said in an interview at the Geneva International Motor Show. “This is like a marriage.”

The maker of the $69,900 Air sedan has struggled since its special purpose acquisition company merger and stock listing in July 2021. Supply-chain issues slowed early production of Lucid’s lone model, and it’s been forced to slash prices to stay competitive with the likes of Tesla Inc. and Mercedes-Benz Group AG. Its market capitalization has plunged from more than $90 billion in November 2021 to a low of around $6 billion early this year.

Lucid disappointed investors last week by forecasting production of just 9,000 vehicles this year, short of what analysts were expecting. Its cash on hand has dwindled to $4.32 billion.

The Newark, California-based company believes it has enough financial runway to get its first sport utility vehicle, called Gravity, into production late this year. Analysts at Evercore ISI this week cut their price target for Lucid shares to $2 — the lowest among analysts tracked by Bloomberg — citing their expectation for $4 billion in free cash flow burn this year.

“Do we need to raise money in the future? Absolutely,” Rawlinson said. He declined to discuss options for a next capital raise or details including the size or timing.

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Lucid raised $3 billion from an offering of common stock and an investment by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced in May of last year. The PIF is far and away the company’s biggest shareholder with a roughly 60% stake, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

In September, Lucid opened Saudi Arabia’s first-ever car manufacturing facility, a vehicle-kit assembly plant near Jeddah. For now, the company is producing kits at its factory in Casa Grande, Arizona, and shipping them to the King Abdullah Economic City facility for final assembly. The carmaker plans to start complete vehicle production after the middle of the decade.

“This isn’t just an investment in Lucid; this is investment in their future vision for their next generation of youth,” Rawlinson said. “We are enabling that, and they’re enabling us to do it.”

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