Lucid is cutting roughly 18% of its U.S. workforce to save cash. The automaker is eliminating a production shift in Arizona. Former interim CEO Marc Winterhoff has departed immediately. Lucid is doing all it can to get the Cosmos crossover to market quickly, but before that, it’s cutting more of its workforce and seemingly hitting the reset button… again. Four months after laying off 12% of its workforce, the EV startup is cutting another 18% of its U.S. employees while simultaneously shutting down a production shift at its Arizona factory. The move affects full-time staff, contractors, and hourly workers alike. The automaker’s biggest issue might not be production or development, but rather, finding buyers. The company announced the cuts Monday alongside the immediate departure of former interim CEO and chief operating officer Marc Winterhoff. Lucid is eliminating the COO position entirely as part of a broader restructuring effort under new CEO Silvio Napoli, who officially stepped into the top job on June 1. Read: Lucid’s Sub-$50K Cosmos EV Revealed In Patent Drawings According to Lucid, the layoffs should generate approximately $158 million in annualized savings while costing about $32 million in severance and related expenses. “These are difficult decisions taken to align production with demand, reduce inventory, and adapt to declining market conditions,” a Lucid spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC. “They are part of a broader effort to simplify the company, sharpen execution, and position Lucid to become more competitive over time.” That mention of demand is the key detail here. Lucid has pretty much already proven that it can build a world-class EV. The Air is a sincerely impressive electric sedan. The Gravity takes that formula and applies it to a three-row SUV praised for its range, luxury, and performance. Despite that, none of the brand’s efforts have resulted in the kind of sales volume needed to support a brand with thousands of employees and ambitions of becoming a major player in the industry. The elimination of the second shift at Lucid’s AMP-1 factory in Casa Grande, Arizona, underscores the problem. Automakers don’t typically idle production capacity when demand is outpacing supply. Earlier this year, Lucid produced roughly 5,500 vehicles in the first quarter but delivered just over 3,000, leaving inventory levels higher than executives would like. That’s what makes the brand’s upcoming Cosmos crossover such a big deal. Increasing overall demand is absolutely vital for Lucid right now. The Cosmos is supposed to start at under $50,000, which automatically opens up a whole new demographic of buyers. If Lucid can manage to take some sales away from Tesla and other rivals in the process, these layoffs could eventually look like very wise belt-tightening. If it doesn’t, they’ll just look like one more step away from the success Lucid once hoped for. Image Credits: Lucid
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