Lucid raised its year-end target for service staffing to a 50% increase on Tuesday, above the 35% it set in August, and said service wait times fell 20% in the third quarter from the second.
The Saudi-backed EV maker said in a statement that technician and service-support staffing was up more than 40% globally through the third quarter, compared with the previous quarter. It is targeting 60% in the first quarter of 2027.
The wait-time figure compares with a goal Lucid set on August 4, when its second-quarter results release said the company was investing in technicians and dedicated staff “to reduce wait times by one third this year.”
Tuesday’s statement sets no new target for wait times.
“We are building a broader, more accessible service network that supports our guests wherever they are in the ownership journey,” said Billy Hayes, Chief Customer Officer at Lucid.
“We are expanding our network, adding service personnel, and increasing Mobile Service capacity to reduce wait times and provide more convenient, responsive support,” added Hayes, who pledged in July to improve how owners are treated.
Targets Reset
Chief Executive Officer Silvio Napoli set out three service goals on the second-quarter earnings call on August 4.
“By the end of the year, we plan to increase the number of technicians and dedicated staff supporting our customers by 35% and mobile service capacity by more than 20%,” Napoli said. “Together with improvements in parts availability, service operations, and capacity, we expect these actions to reduce wait times by more than 30%.”
He told analysts on the same call that “the ownership experience has too often come short of the promise of the product.” The shareholder deck that accompanied the call said Lucid had “underinvested in service.”
Three months on, the staffing increase Lucid reports is above that goal and the target has been raised. The mobile target has also been raised, although the gain reported so far is below the original figure.
Mobile Service capacity in North America rose 15% through the third quarter from the previous quarter, Lucid said on Tuesday. The company is now targeting a 40% increase by year-end, “supported by an additional 20 Lucid Gravity Mobile Service vehicles.”
Lucid last disclosed the size of that fleet in February, when its fourth-quarter 2025 presentation showed 96 mobile service vehicles worldwide at December 31, 2025, up 20 during the year.
The statement does not give wait times in days or the number of people working in service. Neither does the quarterly report Lucid filed on Monday, or the third-quarter presentation, which describes the 20% figure as a reduction in service appointment wait times “since Q2 2026.”
That quarterly report describes the company’s customer priority as investing “in technicians and dedicated staff to reduce wait times,” without the one-third figure used in August.
Napoli cited the same numbers on the third-quarter call on Monday. “Our significant investment in service has already cut wait times by around 20%, supported by a 40% increase in service technicians, 15% more mobile service capacity and an expanded service footprint,” he said.
Tuesday’s statement defines the staffing figure more broadly than technicians. Lucid said it is adding “vehicle technicians, service advisors and concierges” at existing Service Centers.
The service hiring runs against cuts elsewhere. Lucid’s global headcount fell to 7,700 from 10,600 between the end of the first quarter and the end of the third, Napoli said on Monday.
Location Count Holds
Lucid’s regulatory filings show the physical network has not grown this year.
The company had 61 studios and service centers and one body shop at September 30, excluding temporary and satellite service centers, according to the quarterly report. It reported 62 studios and service centers at December 31, 2025, and the same number at the end of March and June.
U.S. locations slipped to 39 from 40 at the end of last year. Norway went to one from two during the third quarter, while Saudi Arabia rose to five from four.
By region, the September count comes to 44 locations in North America, 12 in Europe and six in the Middle East, including the body shop. The year-end figures were 45, 12 and five.
In the February presentation, Lucid had planned seven more locations in North America in 2026, 10 in the Middle East and 25 in Europe, each “subject to completed contract.” The quarterly report does not say whether sites run by retail partners are included in its count.
Tuesday’s statement names four U.S. sites. Lucid said a new combined Studio and Service Center in Mission Viejo, California, brings sales and service together for customers in Southern California.
Studio and Service Center operations are planned for downtown Los Angeles and Dallas later this year, and for Highland Park, Illinois, in the first quarter of 2027.
Warranty Provision Rises
Napoli also pointed to quality on Monday’s call. “In Q3, warranty claims reduced by 70% and warranty costs were 16% lower year-over-year,” he said.
Footnotes in the third-quarter presentation narrow both figures. The 70% covers claims in a customer’s first month of ownership, for the Air and the Gravity, over the 12 months through September 2026.
The 16% figure “excludes M48A warranty provision,” according to the same slide. The presentation does not define the term, and it does not appear in the quarterly report.
On the reported figures, the provision for warranty rose 74% to $30.4 million in the third quarter from $17.5 million a year earlier, the quarterly report shows. Warranty costs incurred rose 42% to $11.3 million from $8.0 million.
The provision includes estimated costs for recalls and special campaigns, according to the filing. Lucid delivered 3,806 vehicles in the quarter, fewer than a year earlier.
Accrued warranty stood at $192.5 million at September 30, up from $133.9 million a year before.
Recall Work at Collision Shops
Lucid said a growing number of its Certified Collision locations can now perform recall campaign work, without giving a number. Customers should contact their nearest Service Center to check whether their vehicle is eligible, the company said.
The February presentation counted 145 approved body shops worldwide at the end of 2025, up 22 in the year.
Records from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) list six Lucid recall campaigns in the U.S. this year. Two filed in January, for rearview camera faults on the Air and the Gravity, were fixed with over-the-air software updates.
Two filed in March require workshop repairs. One covers lap belt anchor brackets on second-row Gravity seats that “may have insufficient welds,” and the other replaces half-shaft bolts on rear-wheel-drive Air Pure sedans.
A May campaign for the inverter on rear-wheel-drive Air sedans uses a software update to monitor for failure, with the part replaced if one is detected.
The largest, covering 27,185 Air sedans in August, is fixed with an over-the-air update. Napoli said on Monday that it “could be fully executed without customers having to bring their car to a service center.”
Europe and Saudi Arabia
Outside the U.S., the partner arrangements listed on Tuesday had been announced in recent months.
Autohaus Possögel will begin authorized service in Naumburg, in eastern Germany, in December. Cloppenburg Automobil SE will open a retail and service location in Duisburg in January 2027, with further authorized service at its Erlangen site.
Munsterhuis Autobedrijven operates a sales and service location in Hengelo as Lucid’s first retail partner in the Netherlands. Emil Frey France will provide operational support for the launch in France.
In Saudi Arabia, Lucid pointed to its first company-owned body and paint center in the Middle East, in Riyadh.
The statement added that a Studio and Delivery Center in Riyadh is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2027, and that Lucid has secured additional service locations in Riyadh and Dammam that are expected to begin operations in the first half of next year.
