Weak demand combined with operational pressures: Lucid (LCID.US) announced a 18% reduction in its US workforce and the elimination of the COO position.

American electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid Group (LCID.US) announced on Monday that it is initiating a new round of large-scale layoffs and eliminating the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) in order to further reduce costs, improve operational efficiency, and accelerate profitability goals in the backdrop of slowing demand in the electric vehicle market and increasing industry competition. According to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Lucid plans to cut approximately 18% of its U.S. workforce, including salaried employees, contract workers, and production line hourly workers. The company expects this round of layoffs to result in around $32 million in one-time cash expenditures, but save approximately $158 million in annual operating costs. This is at least the second major round of layoffs for Lucid this year. In February, the company announced a global reduction of around 12% of its workforce to streamline the organizational structure and improve operational efficiency. At the time, the company stated that production workers at the Arizona factory would not be affected. As of the end of 2025, Lucid's total workforce is approximately 9,000 people. Based on this estimate, the cumulative impact on employees from the two rounds of layoffs could be close to 2,500 people. In response to the news, Lucid's stock price fell by 3.5% during Monday's trading session. As of the previous week's close, the company's stock price has declined by nearly 49% year-to-date. In recent years, Lucid has faced multiple challenges such as production ramp-up, supply chain fluctuations, and rising costs. Meanwhile, changes in tariff policies, intensified price competition in the electric vehicle industry, and slowed consumer demand have also put pressure on the company's sales performance. Currently, Lucid primarily sells the high-end electric sedan Air and the SUV model Gravity. Last month, the new CEO Silvio Napoli initiated a comprehensive operational review and announced the suspension of issuing annual production guidance to reassess market demand and production plans. The company stated that these layoffs are part of an overall cost optimization plan with the goal of gradually achieving profitability and positive cash flow through streamlining organizational structure, optimizing operational expenses, and adjusting production capacity planning. As part of the adjustment measures, Lucid will also cancel the second production shift at its Arizona factory. This second shift was added at the end of last year with the aim of increasing production capacity and accelerating vehicle delivery speed. Additionally, there have been significant changes in the company's management. Lucid announced the elimination of the COO position, and the current COO and former interim CEO Marc Winterhoff has left the company.