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Lucid Cuts 18% of U.S. Workforce, Ends Second Production Shift

New CEO Silvio Napoli is shifting the company from trimming overhead into cutting factory capacity to align production with weak demand, concentrating resources on the lower‑cost Cosmos and Saudi output.

Overview

  • Lucid disclosed in an SEC filing that it is reducing roughly 18% of its U.S. workforce, including full‑time staff, contractors and hourly factory workers, and has eliminated the second production shift at its AMP‑1 plant in Casa Grande, a move confirmed on Monday.
  • The company said the restructuring should yield about $158 million in annualized cost savings and will incur roughly $32 million in one‑time cash charges for severance and benefits, with the program expected to be substantially complete by the end of the third quarter.
  • Chief operating officer Marc Winterhoff has left and the COO role has been eliminated as Napoli flattens the leadership team and repositions the company to ‘simplify’ operations and sharpen execution.
  • This is Lucid’s second major U.S. headcount cut in 2026 and its fourth since 2023, reflecting a shift from cutting salaried overhead to scaling back production after deliveries fell sharply and losses widened.
  • The company is banking on the lower‑cost Cosmos SUV and expanded Saudi manufacturing to restore scale while reportedly weighing up to 40% reductions in its loss‑making European operation, a development that will affect workers, inventory levels and whether Lucid can meet its suspended guidance.