Lucid cuts 18% of workforce in restructuring, new CEO takes direct control of engineering to target mass market

On 22 June local time, American electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid announced it would cut 18% of its workforce, affecting around 1,500 employees, including full-time staff, contractors, and hourly production workers. The second shift at its Casa Grande factory in Arizona has also been cancelled.

This latest round of cuts comes just four months after the company laid off 12% of its workforce in February this year, and is a key part of new Chief Executive Silvio Napoli’s push to restructure the organisation.

Lucid expects the restructuring to be completed by the third quarter of this year, saving approximately $158 million annually, while incurring around $32 million in severance costs.

On the personnel front, Vivek Athaluri, Vice President of Vehicle Engineering, and Marc Solsona Palomar, Vice President of Software, will now report directly to Silvio Napoli. This change follows the departure of Emad Dlala, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Digital Business, on 9 June, with no successor at the same level appointed for now.

Silvio Napoli officially took over as CEO on 1 June, having previously worked at Swiss company Schindler Group, and does not have a background in automotive engineering. Since former CEO Peter Rawlinson stepped down in February 2025, more than a dozen senior executives have left or retired, leaving the management team in a state of ongoing flux.

In terms of product planning, Lucid is preparing to launch its first mass-market mid-size SUV, the Cosmos, with an expected starting price of under $50,000. This model is central to the company’s strategy of increasing annual deliveries to 100,000 vehicles in the medium term, and represents a key step in moving from the high-end niche market into the mainstream price bracket.