Lucid Motors appointed its permanent Chief Executive Officer on Tuesday, ending a fourteen-month search for a replacement for Peter Rawlinson, who left the role in February 2025.
Since then, the EV maker has been led on an interim basis by former Chief Operating Officer Marc Winterhoff, who now returns to that role as Silvio Napoli takes over the company’s lead.
In a pre-recorded interview with Bloomberg published immediately after Tuesday’s announcement — his first since taking over the lead — Napoli framed his approach around people and long-term sustainability.
“The last thing Lucid needs today is someone coming in with a ready-made recipe, looking over the engineers,” the engineer said. “And arguably, some of the ones we have are some of the best in the business.”
Napoli, who led Schindler Group for over three decades, said he sees his role differently, stating that his “job is to come in and to make a sustainable business out of this incredible company,” starting with its people.
He noted that “it’s going to be a lot of hard work, to be clear, a lot of hard work, but one that happens now.”
Hiring Process
Asked how the process began, Napoli said “it’s really been a commonality of views finding each other.”
A year ago, Schindler Group announced that Napoli had decided not to stand for re-election to the Board of Directors at the General Meeting, as he aimed to pursue new career challenges.
He became CEO in January 2014 and was elevated to Executive Chairman in April 2016, a dual role he held until March 2025.
Napoli spent nearly 31 years at the Swiss multinational, which manufactures elevators, escalators, and moving walkways across more than 140 countries.
“Since leaving my previous position exactly one year ago, I was in no rush to jump into anything other than something I thought was a worthwhile challenge,” Napoli told Bloomberg.
When he “was approached for this opportunity, of course, I did my due diligence.”
According to Lucid‘s new chief executive, “discussing with PIF [Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund], discussing with the chairman, was an absolutely vital element of my decision making.”
Turqi Alnowaiser has served as a member of Lucid‘s Board of Directors since April 2019 and as Chairman of the Board since April 2023.
Alnowaiser also serves as Deputy Governor and Head of the International Investments Division at the Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The chairman has sat on the board of directors of Uber Technologies — which invested in Lucid last year — since November 2023.
“Today’s announcement is a confirmation of their continued support or their belief in Lucid as a company and its future,” Napoli added.
PIF Priorities
According to Napoli, Lucid‘s main backer — the PIF — was looking for someone to bring global industrial experience to the company.
Lucid is preparing to begin production of its mid-size platform, which will be manufactured exclusively in Saudi Arabia — unlike the Air and Gravity models, currently produced in Arizona.
The company is also expanding into more international markets, which includes tripling its presence in Europe this year.
“The most important element of that was their belief, their willingness to bring on board someone like me with industrial global experience in turning around, in growth, in businesses around the world, combining industrial manufacturing and service and building a brand,” the incoming executive said.
Napoli added that he “saw it the same way.”
Notably, the executive has not previously held any automotive-related role.
In a LinkedIn post on Tuesday, the 60-year-old engineer wrote that, throughout his career, he has “led large, complex global organizations with advanced manufacturing and customer service at their core.”
Napoli “helped transform technology champions into resilient, high-performing organizations,” he added.
Through that experience, the incoming CEO said he learned “that progress comes from clarity of priorities, simpler and more effective processes, disciplined execution, and empowering teams to go the extra mile.”
Several Lucid enthusiasts noted the PIF’s preference for a leader with industrial rather than automotive credentials.
VP of Communications Nick Twork wrote on X that Napoli “is also very passionate about these topics, is an auto enthusiast, and rightly, places a high priority on customers.”
After calling Tuesday “a big day” for Lucid, Twork said on the same platform that “having spent time with Silvio, it’s clear he leads with humility and conviction.”
“He brings a calm, natural leadership style and a clear focus on elevating the customer experience and driving long‑term value,” Twork added.
Uber Deal and Financing
Alongside the CEO announcement, Lucid disclosed that Uber has expanded its purchase commitment to at least 35,000 vehicles for its upcoming global robotaxi service.
It marked a 75% increase from the 20,000 Gravity SUVs agreed under the original July 2025 deal.
The ride-hailing company is also investing an additional $200 million in Lucid, raising its total investment to $500 million.
The expanded fleet will include both the Gravity SUV and the upcoming mid-size platform, positioned as the cost-efficient workhorse for fleet deployment at scale.
Commenting on the Uber deal, Napoli said he thought of it as “a validation of Lucid as a technology leader.”
Lucid also disclosed a fresh $550 million investment from Ayar Third Investment Company — an affiliate of the PIF — and priced a $300 million registered public offering of common stock, with BofA Securities acting as sole underwriter.
The capital raise comes less than four months after Winterhoff told Bloomberg that the company was “funded until well into 2027” and would return to capital markets “when it’s opportune.”
Cost Discipline Approach
Pressed on whether his reputation for cost discipline would lead him to review Lucid‘s existing projects and narrow focus to the core business — including the prototype for the ‘Lunar’ robotaxi concept unveiled at the debut Investor Day last month — Napoli said “it’s very high on the priority.”
“As a matter of fact, I believe deciding what we don’t do is going to be as important, if not more, than deciding what we do,” he flagged, adding, “I’m an engineer myself, I can see the excitement engineers experience when given a new challenge.”
The chief executive said the goal will be to “channel that excitement in the projects that have the highest return for our shareholders, and then taking them one at a time.”
Lucid‘s stock has been pressured by recent events, including both operational setbacks at the company and broader global trade tensions and the Middle East conflict.
Shares reached a new low of $8.32 on Monday, following a physical recall issued on its Air sedan — the second in two weeks, after the Gravity SUV saw most of its produced vehicles recalled earlier this month.
The stock jumped in Tuesday’s pre-market trading to as high as $10.56 — a 14.5% surge from Monday’s close — before erasing most of the gains after Lucid published the $300 million stock offering.
As of press time, Lucid was trading nearly 5.5% lower at $8.74 on Tuesday’s session.
