Lucid Motors has promoted Derek Jenkins, its longest-serving executive and the last remaining member of the leadership team that took the company public, to chief creative officer, a change the company disclosed only through a product press release.
Jenkins was identified under the new title in Thursday’s announcement of the Gravity GT-S at Monterey Car Week.
Lucid‘s leadership page listed him as Senior Vice President of Design and Brand as recently as June 9, according to an archived version of the page. His LinkedIn profile continues to show the earlier title.
The company did not announce the appointment and has not said when it took effect. The leadership restructuring was revealed on the second day of July.
Sole Survivor
Jenkins joined Lucid in July 2015, when the company was known as ‘Atieva’ and had no vehicle on sale.
His tenure of 11 years and two months exceeds that of any other executive on the leadership page by more than four years. Faisal Sultan, President of the Middle East region, joined in June 2019.
He became the last of the company’s original leadership in June, when Emad Dlala, Senior VP of Engineering and Digital, departed nine days after Silvio Napoli assumed the chief executive role.
Lucid has lost its Chief Financial Officer, Sherry House, general counsel, ousted its chief engineer Eric Bach, and the majority of its senior leadership since October 2023.
Scope Unchanged in Public Materials
The biography on Lucid‘s website is otherwise identical to the archived version.
Both describe Jenkins as overseeing exterior and interior design, user experience, colour and material, accessories and overall design strategy, and as leading brand creative and brand strategy.
The Mazda, Volkswagen and Audi sections are unchanged.
Design Record
Jenkins led the design of the Air sedan, which reached customers in 2021, and the Gravity sport utility vehicle, delivered from December 2024.
He is responsible for the Cosmos, the midsize model Lucid has recently delayed for the second half of 2027 and on which its volume strategy depends.
He was director of design at Mazda North American Operations from 2009 to 2015, where he was lead or contributing designer on the 2016 MX-5 Miata, the Shinari concept, the CX-5, Mazda6, Mazda3 and the 2017 CX-9.
He previously spent nine years as chief designer for Volkswagen of America, credited with the Scirocco concept, the Ragster, the Microbus concept and Concept T, and eight years at Audi, first as lead exterior designer in Ingolstadt and later as assistant chief designer.
He was principal exterior designer of the A2 and the 2002 Audi A8.
Recruited on the Tesla Precedent
Jenkins told CNBC in 2021 that he joined the company after more than two decades at established automakers because Tesla had demonstrated that a new entrant was possible.
He said he had been “really blown away” by Tesla‘s early success, having previously shared the industry assumption that starting a car company could not be done, and that friends in senior positions there had given him a first-hand account of what it required.
“I felt that the industry is changing and I want to work for a company that will be on the forefront of that,” he said, adding that periods of large-scale change were when significant work became possible, and that for a designer such opportunities represented the greatest professional satisfaction.
Not Part of the July Restructuring
Lucid announced organisational changes on July 2, naming six people to its global leadership team and stating that the restructuring would halve the number of executives reporting directly to the chief executive.
That announcement named Alexander De Bock as incoming CFO, Raja Ramana Macha as Chief Technology Officer, Billy Hayes as Chief Customer Officer, Hugo Martinho as Chief Transformation Officer, Kay Stepper as President of Lucid Technologies and Chief Digital Officer, and Christian Appel as VP of program management.
Jenkins was not among them.
Several other incumbents whose titles have since changed on the company’s website were also absent, including VP of Communications chief Nick Twork, now listed as Chief Communications Officer.
First Use of the Title
Jenkins was quoted under the new designation in Thursday’s Gravity GT-S release.
“With Lucid Gravity GT-S, we’ve created a more expressive and exhilarating interpretation of the Gravity SUV,” he said. “It combines extraordinary performance with the comfort, space, and versatility that define Gravity.”
The GT-S produces 1,070 horsepower, accelerates to 60 miles per hour in 3.1 seconds and is priced at $127,750.
