Lucid Motors does not know how many EVs it will produce this year

Lucid Motors said on Tuesday that it no longer knows how many EVs it will build or sell this year, as it is still on track. The new CEO is a low cost company.

The company said in February that planned to build between 25,000 and 27,000 cars this year. It is far from hundreds of thousands of cars that Lucid Motors says it will build and sell this year when it goes public in 2021.

The change in Lucid’s leadership was announced during the company’s first quarter earnings call by chief financial officer Taoufiq Boussaid. It comes just months after the company laid off 12% of its workforce, which TechCrunch first reported it in February. Lucid Motors said in a filing Tuesday that the layoffs will cost the company about $40 million in the short term, though it believes the cuts will save as much as $500 million over the next few years.

Boussaid said the decision to pull the reins of Lucid Motors this year was a “management decision,” and that incoming CEO Silvio Napoli is reviewing the business. Boussaid said Lucid Motors hopes to offer a “revolutionary look” during its second phase acquisition in a few months.

“It’s clear that realizing Lucid’s full potential will require a lot of focus and consistent execution, especially on simplicity, prioritization and speed,” Napoli said at the time.

Lucid Motors also shared on Tuesday that it was worse than the first quarter, mainly due to production disruptions and a temporary stoppage that affected the delivery of the Gravity SUV for 29 days due to problems with seat suppliers.

The problems caused Lucid Motors to overspend, and the company said it had to carefully manage the volume of production in the near future to reduce overcrowding.

“We are not constrained by power. We are constrained by our laws not to build what we need. As the market progresses, we will increase productivity accordingly,” said Boussaid.

All this comes as Lucid Motors is set to begin production of its first supercar this year, priced under $50,000. The company has said that it will begin production of the first EV on this medium-sized platform by the end of 2026. On Tuesday, the company focused on the next year, saying that it will “remain(s) on the production path for the middle of 2027.”

Lucid Motors also plans to launch a robotaxi service with Uber and Nuro later this year, using autonomous versions of its Gravity SUV. Lucid confirmed on Tuesday that it is close to starting production of its fourth street-ready car.

Update: This article has been updated to clarify that shipping was disrupted for 29 days.