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Lucid Slashes 12% of U.S. Salaried Staff in Profit Push Ahead of Earnings

The salaried cuts ahead of Tuesday’s earnings signal a turn to cost discipline to reach profitability.

Overview

  • Lucid confirmed a 12% reduction of its U.S. workforce focused on salaried roles, with hourly employees in manufacturing, logistics, and quality excluded, and severance and benefits offered.
  • This marks the company’s third formal layoff round since 2023; with 6,800 global employees at the end of 2024, the reduction suggests hundreds of positions are affected.
  • Operationally, 2025 production rose 104% to 18,378 vehicles and deliveries climbed 55% to 15,841, driven by the Gravity ramp, though some Gravity deliveries were recently paused to replace a defective middle-seat component.
  • Investor positioning has shifted as UBS, Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, and Norges Bank increased stakes in Q4, while Saudi Arabia’s PIF remains the controlling shareholder at about 58.4%, and Lucid raised nearly $1 billion via 2031 convertible notes and expanded a PIF credit facility.
  • Management says the strategy is unchanged, prioritizing margin improvement and a lower-cost midsize platform with production planned in Saudi Arabia, continuing Uber/Nuro robotaxi work, and outlining next steps at a March 12 Investor Day.