Lucid, the EV startup behind the Air sedan that competes with the Tesla Model S, has introduced that it’s shedding round 1,300 staff, or 18 p.c of its workforce, throughout the subsequent few months. Based on an email from CEO Peter Rawlinson, which was hooked up to a regulatory filing, the cuts will have an effect on staff and contractors “in practically each group and degree, together with executives.”
Rawlinson says staff will hear extra in regards to the layoffs over the following three days, and the submitting says the restructuring ought to be full “by the top of the second quarter of 2023.” The e-mail says that staff who’re let go will obtain “profession sources, Lucid-paid healthcare protection continuation, and acceleration of fairness,” and the submitting says that the corporate plans to spend round $24 million to $30 million in “expenses associated to worker transition, severance funds, worker advantages, and stock-based compensation.”
For many who’ve been following Lucid, this doesn’t essentially come as a shock. Rawlinson says the layoffs are “aligned with the fee self-discipline announcement we made in late February once we reported earnings,” when it additionally introduced that it had burned through around $2.6 billion over the fiscal yr 2022.
The corporate’s additionally been struggling to get automobiles constructed and into clients’ arms — in February, it reported having over 28,000 reservations however mentioned it might solely be capable to produce 10,000 to 14,000 autos all through 2023. Even that will be a giant step up, on condition that it made 7,180 autos in 2022 and delivered round 4,300 of them.
The corporate additionally took one other hit this week, announcing a recall on round 600 autos to repair an issue that would result in them shedding energy.
Lucid is much from the one automaker making substantial cuts. Inside the previous yr Ford has laid off around 3,000 workers, GM offered buyouts to lots of its workers as a part of a plan to chop its funds by $2 billion, Stellantis announced plans to halt a plant, and Tesla has carried out a round of layoffs. Different startups have additionally been struggling. Arrival laid off half its workforce, and Rivian cut six percent of its staff — twice.
