Lucid Motors said on Tuesday it is no longer certain how many EVs it will build or sell this year as it embarks on a transition to a new CEO and a company-wide cost-cutting push.
The company said in February that is planned to build between 25,000 and 27,000 vehicles this year. This is far from it hundreds of thousands of vehicles Lucid Motors estimated it would build and sell this year when it goes public in 2021. Still, it would represent a significant increase from last year’s figure of about 18,000.
The change in Lucid’s guidance was announced during the company’s first quarter earnings call by CFO Taoufiq Boussaid. It comes just months after the company laid off 12% of its workforce, which TechCrunch first reported in February. Lucid Motors said in a filing Tuesday that those layoffs will cost the company about $40 million in the near term, though it believes the cuts will ultimately save up to $500 million over the next few years.
Boussaid said the decision to pull Lucid Motors guidance for the year was a “governance decision” and that incoming CEO Silvio Napoli is conducting a review of the business. Boussaid said Lucid Motors expects to provide a “fully updated outlook” during second-quarter earnings in a few months.
“It’s clear that realizing Lucid’s full potential will require greater focus and consistent execution, particularly around simplification, prioritization and speed,” Napoli said during the call.
Lucid Motors also said on Tuesday that it had a worse-than-expected first quarter, mainly due to a production stoppage and a temporary sales interruption that affected deliveries of the Gravity SUV for 29 days due to problems with a seat supplier.
These problems have led to a bloated inventory at Lucid Motors, and the company said it will have to carefully manage production volume in the near future in order to reduce this overhang.
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“We are not constrained by capacity. We are constrained by our own discipline to not build inventory ahead of demand. As market conditions evolve, we will scale production accordingly,” Boussaid said.
All this comes as Lucid Motors is supposed to start building its first high-volume vehicle this year, priced under $50,000. The company said it will begin producing the first EV on this midsize platform by the end of 2026. On Tuesday, the company kept its focus on next year, saying it “remains[s] on track to increase mid-sized production in 2027”.
Lucid Motors also plans to launch a robotaxi service with Uber and Nuro by the end of this year, using autonomous versions of its Gravity SUV. Lucid confirmed Tuesday that it remains on track to begin building road-ready versions of those vehicles in the fourth quarter.
Update: This article has been updated to clarify that deliveries have been suspended for 29 days.
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