Lucid Motors Lays Off 18% of Workforce Under New CEO

Lucid Motors is laying off 18% of its workforce, or around 1,500 employees, just four months after the EV maker cut 12% of its staff. The company said on Monday that it has also 'eliminated the second shift' of EV production at its factory in Casa Grande, Arizona. The cuts are part of a bid by Lucid's new CEO, Silvio Napoli, to 'simplify the company, sharpen execution, and position Lucid to become more competitive over time,' the company said in a statement.

The lay-offs come as the electric vehicle market in the United States has cooled, with major automakers pulling electric models from their own product plans. Marc Winterhoff, who served as interim CEO for more than a year until Napoli took the job, has also left the company. Winterhoff, Napoli, and the company had all previously said that Winterhoff would stay on as chief operating officer after stepping down as interim CEO.

In a regulatory filing, Lucid Motors said it has eliminated the chief operating officer position entirely. This round of cuts comes as Lucid Motors works toward releasing its first mass-market vehicle later this year, the Lucid Cosmos SUV. The lower-cost EV is supposed to start at under $50,000 and put Lucid Motors on the path to profitability.

Lucid Motors is also attempting to become a major player in the autonomous vehicle space, partnering up with Uber and Nuro on a luxury robotaxi service slated to launch later this year in San Francisco. The company declined to comment on whether any of its programs are being mothballed. The Saudi Arabia-owned, publicly-traded company has seen more than a dozen top executives leave over the last two years.

Longtime CEO Peter Rawlinson abruptly resigned in February 2025; Chief Engineer Eric Bach was let go in late 2025, and filed a wrongful termination lawsuit shortly after (though that lawsuit has been stayed pending arbitration); and Emad Dlala, another longtime employee, resigned earlier this month just a few months after being promoted to a top role. The latest cuts include full-time employees, contractors, and hourly production workers. The company reported having 9,000 employees globally at the end of 2025, prior to the 12% cut in February.

Lucid said the layoffs will help it align 'production plans with anticipated demand,' and generate annualized savings of around $158 million. The company expects the restructuring to complete by the third quarter of this year. Lucid will pay approximately $32 million in severance.

Winterhoff, the outgoing executive, will get severance, 'certain security support,' and will be able to keep his company vehicle, according to the regulatory filing. Why this matters: The significant layoffs at Lucid Motors reflect the challenges facing the electric vehicle industry, particularly in the United States, where demand has cooled. For developers and businesses, this means a continued need to adapt to changing market conditions and consumer preferences.