Lucid Motors names a new CEO, gets more money from Uber and the Saudis

Lucid Motors has finally found a new CEO for factory director, Silvio Napoli, marking the end of a years-long search following the sudden resignation of its former CEO, Peter Rawlinson.

The company said on Tuesday that Napoli, who has spent the last several decades in various positions at the elevator and escalator company Schindler Group, will also join the management team.

Along with the appointment of the CEO, Lucid said it has received another commitment of $ 200 million from Uber, which has agreed to buy 25,000 models of Lucid’s mid-size car. This brings Uber’s total investment in Lucid Motors to $500 million, and orders for at least 35,000 of its vehicles.

Finally, Lucid’s majority shareholder, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, is also buying $550 million of its shares.

The announcements come in a very important year for Lucid Motors. The company is currently trying to expand production and sales of its second model, the Gravity SUV, after struggling to find a large market for its Air sedan. Lucid is also planning to release the first of three cars built on its mid-range platform, which will allow it to target buyers willing to spend $50,000 or more on a new car.

The company has taken drastic measures to ensure that it produces the car. In February, he thought lay off 12% of employees, TechCrunch reported. On Tuesday, Lucid Motors said in a regulatory filing that it will soon “reduce the number of contracts” at its Arizona plant “to improve revenue.”

Lucid Motors has been without a permanent CEO since February 2025, when former CEO Rawlinson abruptly left the company. Its CEO, Marc Winterhoff, has served as CEO for a while since the start, and he had some ideas about taking on the role of CEO, such as TechCrunch previously reportedwhere the company cast a very wide net for replacement. But Winterhoff’s supervision was consistent more behavior issues with the release of its Gravity SUV.

Napoli will not start as CEO immediately. They must still receive “right to work in the US,” according to the reservation. Until this happens, he will be the “chief executive officer” of Lucid Motors under an employment contract in Switzerland (where he resides). Lucid expects Napoli to receive a license to operate in the US “in the coming weeks,” after which Winterhoff will resume his role as chief operating officer.

Napoli stands to make more money as Lucid’s new CEO. He is starting with a starting salary of $1.5 million, and is being given $1 million to move to the US.

Uber’s new commitment comes just a day after the ride-hailing giant and autonomous vehicle partner Nuro began testing the modified Lucid Gravity SUV for launching a high-end robotaxi service in San Francisco later this year. Uber first partnered with Lucid Motors and Nuro July is overwhen it made a $300 million investment and agreed to buy at least 20,000 Gravity SUVs.

Lucid Motors revealed on investor day event earlier this year that it was close to a deal with Uber to create the same system for its low-cost mid-size cars. The finalized deal that was revealed on Tuesday reduces the number of orders for the Gravity SUV to 10,000.

The Saudi investment is the latest in a long line of capital injections from the Kingdom to Lucid that began as a bailout of the company in 2018.