Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · Jun 22
Lucid Cuts 18% of Staff, Eliminates 2nd EV Shift Under New CEO
Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · Jun 22

Lucid Cuts 18% of Staff, Eliminates 2nd EV Shift Under New CEO

3 articles · Updated · TechCrunch · Jun 22

Summary

  • About 1,500 Lucid workers — 18% of the workforce — are being cut, and the company has scrapped the second production shift at its Casa Grande, Arizona, EV plant.
  • Lucid said the restructuring will align production with expected demand in a cooling U.S. EV market, with annualized savings of about $158 million against roughly $32 million in severance costs.
  • The move comes just four months after a 12% staff reduction and includes full-time employees, contractors and hourly production workers; Lucid expects the overhaul to finish by the third quarter.
  • Silvio Napoli is reshaping management as well: interim CEO Marc Winterhoff has left, and Lucid eliminated the chief operating officer role it had said he would keep.
  • The cuts land as Lucid prepares its sub-$50,000 Cosmos SUV and a San Francisco robotaxi launch with Uber and Nuro, while more than a dozen top executives have exited over two years.

Insights

After firing thousands, how can Lucid launch a new SUV and a robotaxi service by the end of the year?
Why can't Lucid sell the cars it already builds, and can its new, cheaper SUV finally fix this?
With endless Saudi funding, is Lucid a real business or a strategic national project that can't fail?