Lucid cutting 18% of staff as California EV maker retrenches again

By Kara Carlson | Bloomberg

Lucid Group in Newark is slashing its workforce for at least the second time this year and eliminating a top executive role as part of a cost-reduction plan in the face of wavering demand for its electric vehicles.

The cuts will impact about 18% of the staff in the US, including full-time employees, contractors and hourly production workers, according to a regulatory filing Monday. Lucid expects to incur about $32 million in cash charges related to the reduction, which will save about $158 million annually going forward.

Lucid in February cut 12% of its global workforce to streamline its organization and boost efficiency, saying at the time that it was sparing production workers at its manufacturing facility in Arizona. The company had about 9,000 workers as of Dec. 31, suggesting the two rounds of layoffs may have eliminated about 2,500 employees.

Lucid shares were down Monday and tumbled 49% this year through Thursday’s close.

The EV maker, which produces the luxury Air sedan and the Gravity SUV, has grappled with production challenges, supply-chain turmoil and rising costs as tariffs whipsawed the industry and policy changes pressured sales. Lucid last month suspended its full-year production guidance as new Chief Executive Officer Silvio Napoli launched an operational review.

The cuts announced Monday are part of a plan to put Lucid on a “path toward profitability and positive cash flow generation by streamlining its organizational structure, optimizing operating expenses and aligning production plans with anticipated demand.” The moves included eliminating a second shift at the company’s Arizona facility, which had been added late last year to accelerate output.

The plan also led to the elimination of the chief operating officer role. Marc Winterhoff, who held the COO title and was previously interim CEO, has departed the company, Lucid said.