Lucid Motors‘ decision to cut 12% of its US salaried workforce on Friday reached across at least a dozen teams and facilities across multiple states.
The cuts, affected professionals in battery testing and R&D, EV test and validation, continuous improvement and reliability engineering, simulation and thermal engineering, vehicle logistics, and corporate innovation.
EV learned on Saturday that manufacturing engineering, functional safety and autonomous driving, quality engineering, and talent acquisition were also affected.
Hourly production workers in manufacturing, logistics, and quality were excluded.
The Saudi-backed EV maker did not specify on Friday which teams were affected or disclose an exact headcount.
Lucid reported 6,800 full-time employees globally at the end of 2024, but the memo from interim CEO Marc Winterhoff refers only to the US workforce.
A closer number of affected workers will become clear when Lucid files its end of 2025 headcount with the SEC.
Lucid x Nikola
Some of the affected workers were former Nikola engineers who joined Lucid less than a year ago as part of the acquisition of Nikola‘s select facilities and assets.
In April 2025, Lucid announced it had reached an agreement to acquire select Nikola facilities and assets in Arizona out of bankruptcy, adding more than 884,000 square feet across a Coolidge manufacturing plant and a Phoenix facility that had served as Nikola‘s headquarters and product development center.
As part of the deal, Lucid said it planned to offer employment to more than 300 former Nikola workers in roles spanning manufacturing engineering, software, assembly, vehicle testing, and warehouse support.
The exact number of Nikola employees who joined Lucid has not been disclosed.
Less than a year later, some of those same employees are out of a job.
Several former Nikola engineers were impacted by Friday’s layoff.
Their specializations spanned EV test and validation, continuous improvement and reliability engineering, and thermal and simulation engineering — roles that closely match the technical salaried positions Lucid described in its April press release.
At the time, Lucid said the offers “will encompass various technical salaried and hourly positions including manufacturing engineering, software, assembly, vehicle testing, and warehouse support.”
One of the former Nikola employees affected had spent the past year scaling manufacturing and R&D operations at the Phoenix facility — the complex Lucid acquired from Nikola.
It is unclear how many of the former Nikola workers who accepted Lucid‘s employment offers last year were affected by Friday’s cuts.
Entire Recruiting Team
The cuts also swept through Lucid‘s talent acquisition function.
One affected recruiter who had spent more than four years at the company’s Arizona operations, together with at least four colleagues from the same team.
A staff recruiter with nearly four years at Lucid has also departed, and a third talent acquisition professional in the same Arizona office — responsible for supply chain, logistics, and corporate quality recruiting — was also affected.
The concentration of layoffs within a single recruiting team suggests Lucid eliminated entire functions rather than trimming positions across the board, at least in some departments.
AD Operations
The reductions extended to Lucid‘s newer Michigan operations.
At least one functional safety specialist based in Southfield who had joined just six months ago — hired in September 2025 to work on autonomous driving applications for Lucid vehicles — was among those let go.
His LinkedIn profile indicated the role was his first at Lucid, and he had been at the company for only six months when the layoffs were announced.
Winterhoff’s memo specifically listed continued ADAS and software development among the company’s core focus areas.
Notification by Text, Severance Promised
The affected employees received a personal email with the information about the layoff and details of the severance package.
Winterhoff’s memo confirmed that affected employees would receive severance pay, bonuses, continued health benefits, and transition support.
Winterhoff told remaining employees he would address the layoffs at a company-wide town hall on Monday — one day before Lucid is scheduled to report its fourth quarter financial results.
Third Round
Friday’s cuts are the third formal round of layoffs since 2023. Then-CEO Peter Rawlinson cut approximately 1,300 employees, roughly 18% of staff — in March 2023.
A second round in May 2024 eliminated about 400 positions, or 6% of the workforce, which EV reported at the time.
Separately, Winterhoff confirmed at CES in January that he had replaced several people at the software leadership team — described as more than a handful of departures — as Lucid scrambled to address quality issues with its Gravity SUV.
The company has been without a permanent CEO for nearly a year following Rawlinson’s abrupt resignation on February 25, 2025.
A total of 13 C-suite officers or vice presidents have departed since October 2023, including the CFO, general counsel, chief engineer, and heads of strategy, software, and supply chain.
Winterhoff said in the memo that the company’s strategy remains unchanged and that production of the mid-size crossover platform — expected later this year at a starting price around $50,000 — continues on track.
He described the layoffs as necessary to deliver on commitments to gross margin improvement and long-term growth.
Full Memo
Below is the full memo sent by the Interim Chief Executive Marc Winterhoff on Friday.
“Team;
Today I want to share an important business update.
We have implemented a 12% reduction of our U.S. workforce, excluding hourly production employees in manufacturing, logistics, and quality.
This difficult but necessary decision was made to improve operational effectiveness and optimize our resources as we continue on our path toward profitability. If you are receiving this message, your role is not impacted.
We are streamlining our organization so we can operate with greater efficiency and deliver on our commitments to gross margin improvement and long-term growth.
We will continue to evaluate our day-to-day work to ensure that our time, energy, and resources remain focused on the initiatives that drive the greatest impact.
This disciplined approach to execution is a core operational imperative for Lucid.
Importantly, today’s actions do not affect our strategy. Our core priorities remain unchanged, and we continue to focus on the start of production of our Midsize platform.
With disciplined execution, we are also focused on further expansion into the robotaxi market, continued ADAS and software development, and growth in sales of Lucid Gravity and Air across existing and new geographies.
Saying goodbye to colleagues is never easy.
We are grateful for the contributions of those impacted by today’s actions, and we are providing severance, bonus, continued health benefits, and transition support to help them through this period.
As we move through today, I ask everyone to treat one another with empathy, professionalism, and respect, recognizing the personal impact these changes have on our teammates.
To sustain and build on progress made in 2025, we must remain focused, operate with discipline, and execute with urgency.
I know we are asking a great deal of our team, and I sincerely appreciate your continued commitment, resilience, and professionalism.
I will address today’s actions and answer questions during Monday’s Town Hall. As always, you may presubmit your questions on The Hub.
Warm regards,
Marc”
