LUCID cutting 18 percent of staff

[savethemanual]

Is LUCID circling the drain? How much longer will the Saudi Fund continue to invest?

https://electrek.co/2026/06/22/lucid-lays-off-18-percent-second-cut-four-months/


Lucid Motors is laying off 18% of its workforce, roughly 1,500 employees, just four months after the EV maker cut 12% of its staff. The company also confirmed Monday that it has eliminated the second production shift at its Casa Grande, Arizona factory.

It’s the second mass layoff under a new leadership regime that is barely three weeks old, and it lands as the US EV market cools and automakers retreat from their electric plans.

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[Great Gatsby]

They also let go of two really high ranking execs, including the interim CEO (current COO). Based on the last earning call, the new face of Lucid appears to be an old schools numbers guy. This also comes at the current constraints facing service centers and turnaround time. Stock is dropping daily even after a reverse-split a few months back.

With no midsize reveal or exciting news to deliver, I am not as hopeful as I once was on Lucid. Crazy, because just a month ago, I was ready to pull the trigger on a used Air and was close to pulling the trigger on the Gravity a few times.

The vehicles are excellent and the engineering is world class. They just need to run the company better. Hoping that this is the ship being corrected rather than being sunsetted, but hard to say given the barrage of bad news coming out of Lucid lately.

 

[Mos Eisley]

Napoli is certainly cleaning house.

 

[savethemanual]

Yes, they have a solid foundation of technology and engineering. From so many reviews, the software is an issue along with no mass market price points yet. The base Air is fantastic for that price point, but it's a sedan and we all know how well those sell here in 'Merica.

 

[lefkonj]

While I know Rivian has a relationship with Rivian, Lucid would be a great acquisition. They have some great tech that could be integrated into the stack for the VM brands and help them catch up to the others.

They have such a large backing from the Saudis I doubt they will disappear though.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

They also let go of two really high ranking execs, including the interim CEO (current COO). Based on the last earning call, the new face of Lucid appears to be an old schools numbers guy. This also comes at the current constraints facing service centers and turnaround time. Stock is dropping daily even after a reverse-split a few months back.

With no midsize reveal or exciting news to deliver, I am not as hopeful as I once was on Lucid. Crazy, because just a month ago, I was ready to pull the trigger on a used Air and was close to pulling the trigger on the Gravity a few times.

The vehicles are excellent and the engineering is world class. They just need to run the company better. Hoping that this is the ship being corrected rather than being sunsetted, but hard to say given the barrage of bad news coming out of Lucid lately.

Hardware engineering is good, on paper. In practice, with help of some social influencers, it's starting to look like they have a bunch of real world problems. Plus, where exactly are Lucid's markets? The Chinese already dominate their domestic market (the largest market globally for cars) and are starting to make inroads into EU. Where does that leave Lucid? The US, which is throwing every road block it can at EVs. The Saudi home market and other wealthy gulf states? They have cheap oil at home. Mass EV adoption isn't exactly a priority.

 

[Mos Eisley]

... the software is an issue...

That's being kind.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

There was a time where they were finally making progress on supplying some of their tech to other companies which, given the amount of R&D they put into it, would have been a huge boon for them. I believe Hyundai Motor Group was going to use Lucid motors in their Genesis EV line, but that fell through, and it's been nothing but crickets since.

This video I think sums up Lucid's state currently. Great hardware, rough software.

TLDW
- Lucid Air was so glitchy that he decided to return his car, Lucid bought it back
- Gave him a long term Gravity as a test vehicle
- Shortly after, Gravity window wouldn't go up so Lucid took the Gravity back, were going to give him another, but he was so tired of the glitches, likely won't continue the long term loan.

 

[Mos Eisley]

The Chinese... ...are starting to make inroads into EU.

At their current rate of growth, China will have better than 25% of the Euro market within five years. So far, just this year, BYD has become the #1 seller in Great Britain, DESPITE not being part of UK's incentive program. Even Saudi Arabia cannot subsidize a vehicle manufacturer the way China is subsidizing their entire EV and renewables industry. In Hong Kong alone, 80% of new car sales are EV's. Who would have thought, 20 years ago, we'd be jealously admiring China? Many established automakers, let alone Lucid, Rivan and other startups will be very hard-pressed to maintain or get a toehold.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

At their current rate of growth, China will have better than 25% of the Euro market within five years. So far, just this year, BYD has become the #1 seller in Great Britain, DESPITE not being part of UK's incentive program. Even Saudi Arabia cannot subsidize a vehicle manufacturer the way China is subsidizing their entire EV and renewables industry. In Hong Kong alone, 80% of new car sales are EV's. Who would have thought, 20 years ago, we'd be jealously admiring China? Many established automakers, let alone Lucid, Rivan and other startups will be very hard-pressed to maintain or get a toehold.

Exactly. If I was a Lucid investor... I'd be very nervous about the company's prospects.

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

Modern Day Edsel.

Many people think the Edsel was a lemon, but in reality it was actually a really well designed and modern line. The issue was that there was no market for it when it was released and it flopped so badly that it became synonymous with automotive failure.

Lucid seems to have great engineering, but their ability to understand the market has been poor to miserable from day 1. Between leading with a sedan (of questionable styling) and then following with an SUV that looks astonishingly like a minivan, they have misread the market and are paying the price.

 

[mkg3]

Lucid is essentially a Saudi Arabian company. They own about 60% of the company and has a production site in Saudi. Most likely the company is shifting more work to there.

https://www.reuters.com/business/wo...cid-lay-off-about-18-us-workforce-2026-06-22/

• Cuts to affect full-time employees, contractors and hourly manufacturing workers
• Company’s COO exited the firm in second major shakeup in recent months
• Lucid grapples with strong competition and pricing ‌pressure in EV market

Also, they are getting ready to introduce Cosmos (R2 competitor):

https://carbuzz.com/lucid-cosmos-design-patent-images/

 

[savethemanual]

Also, they are getting ready to introduce Cosmos (R2 competitor):

https://carbuzz.com/lucid-cosmos-design-patent-images/

Looks like another jelly bean. Styling is most certainly subjective but no thanks for me!

 

[Mos Eisley]

Modern Day Edsel.

Or maybe even more like the Tucker.

 

[Great Gatsby]

Modern Day Edsel.

Many people think the Edsel was a lemon, but in reality it was actually a really well designed and modern line. The issue was that there was no market for it when it was released and it flopped so badly that it became synonymous with automotive failure.

Lucid seems to have great engineering, but their ability to understand the market has been poor to miserable from day 1. Between leading with a sedan (of questionable styling) and then following with an SUV that looks astonishingly like a minivan, they have misread the market and are paying the price.

The last sentence really nails it. They are really clueless about what sells. Rivian and Lucid started selling vehicles around the same time. Rivian understanding the market is the reason they are doing so much better now than Lucid in comparison.

Lucid released a Gravity X concept last year that fixed most of my issues with the Gravity and would have done quite well, if released, assuming they got the software in order. But they just introduced the concept and moved on. It seems clear from the outside looking in that they are doing WAY too much at the same time. They want to chase the driving dynamics of Porsche, luxury of a Mercedes and the tech of a Tesla. As a result, they are suffering on all ends and a product that is engineered quite well but burdened by trying to do it all at the same time.

I do hope they succeed and perhaps this shakeup is exactly what they needed.

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