Four rounds of layoffs since 2023. A leadership team that keeps disappearing. And now an elevator executive trying to keep the whole thing from going down. Lucid Motors‘ new CEO Silvio Napoli, barely four months into the job, has cut 18% of the company’s workforce — roughly 1,500 people — on top of a 12% reduction in February. The EV startup that once positioned itself as Tesla’s luxury rival is shrinking faster than it ships cars.
The Numbers Behind “Simplifying”
Napoli’s restructuring runs deep — from the factory floor to the C-suite.
- 1,500 positions eliminated across full-time staff, contractors, and hourly production workers
- Second production shift at Casa Grande, Arizona canceled
- $158 million in targeted annualized savings; $32 million in severance costs
- COO role eliminated entirely; former interim CEO Marc Winterhoff departed with severance, security support, and his company car
- Open job postings collapsed 76% over the past year — from roughly 800 to about 180
Napoli came from Schindler Group, where he ran the world’s second-largest elevator company. Not a tech visionary. An industrial operator. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund backed his appointment with $750 million in fresh capital. His stated mandate, according to Bloomberg-linked reporting: turn Lucid into a “sustainable business.” Eliminating the COO role suggests he’s consolidating decision-making, not building consensus.
The pattern here is unmistakable. The company cut 18% of staff in March 2023, another 6% in May 2024, and then 12% globally in February 2026 — now followed immediately by this latest 18% reduction. Meanwhile, founding CEO Peter Rawlinson resigned, chief engineer Eric Bach departed amid a wrongful termination lawsuit now stayed pending arbitration, and over a dozen senior leaders have exited. It’s a ship throwing cargo overboard mid-storm, and the waterline keeps rising.
The Roadmap Lucid Is Still Betting On
A sub-$50,000 SUV and a robotaxi partnership remain on the table — at least officially.
Despite the bloodletting, the Cosmos SUV — targeting a starting price under $50,000 — is still slated to launch later this year. It represents Lucid’s clearest shot at escaping the EV startup graveyard and becoming a real volume automaker. EV industry observers note that the jump from niche luxury brand to mainstream competitor is one almost no startup survives without a credible mass-market model. The robotaxi partnership with Uber and Nuro, targeting San Francisco, also reportedly remains active. Lucid hasn’t confirmed whether the restructuring affects either timeline. That silence is its own answer.
Then there’s Europe, where Lucid is reportedly weighing cuts of up to 40% of staff — a region averaging roughly 1.5 vehicle sales per day.
The real question isn’t whether Napoli can cut costs. He clearly can. The harder question is whether a company that has spent three years downsizing can actually build its way to profitability. The Cosmos is Lucid’s last clean shot at scale. If it lands, Napoli looks like a surgeon. If it doesn’t, this restructuring is just the slow-motion final act.
