Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors announced earlier this week that Peter Rawlinson will step down as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer, with Marc Winterhoff appointed as interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent replacement.
The U.S. carmaker said Rawlinson will transition to the role of ‘Strategic Technical Advisor to the Chairman of the Board’ while Winterhoff, who has been serving as Chief Operating Officer (COO), has been appointed Interim CEO.
Winterhoff, who joined Lucid in December 2023, will now lead the company as it faces increased pressure from its backer — Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund — and from shareholders.
Shares of Lucid have fallen more than 25% year to date as of Thursday, and are trading only 30 cents above their all-time low of $1.93, reached in November 2023.
Lucid’s board confirmed on Tuesday it has “initiated a search to identify Lucid’s next Chief Executive Officer with the support of a leading executive search firm.”
The company reported a net loss of $2.7 billion in 2024, with cash and cash equivalents totaling $1.6 billion at the end of the fourth quarter.
Who is Marc Winterhoff?
Winterhoff was appointed as Lucid’s COO on December 4, 2023, reporting directly to Rawlinson. At the time, Lucid said he would focus on “driving Lucid’s operational efficiency, accelerating Lucid’s international expansion, enhancing its go-to-market strategy, and maturing its world-class manufacturing operations.”
Before joining Lucid, Winterhoff was a senior partner at Roland Berger, a European management consulting firm, where he specialized in operational leadership for automotive manufacturers, cost efficiency management, and sales and service strategies.
Earlier in his career, Winterhoff spent over a decade at Arthur D. Little as a director in its Frankfurt office, and he previously held a leadership role at LHS Communications.
He holds a master’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering and management from the Technische Universität Darmstadt and will be based at Lucid’s Silicon Valley headquarters.
Departures at Lucid
Since October 2023, the company has seen at least nine high-level exits, including two C-suite executives, a senior vice president, and five vice presidents. On Tuesday, the chief executive joined the list of departures with immediate effect.
Late last year, Vice President of Marketing and Communications Andrea Soriani left Lucid to rejoin Maserati as General Manager for North America. In December, Alexander Lutz, who had been managing director for Lucid’s European operations, also departed, marking the ninth senior executive exit in 14 months.
Compensation under scrutiny
In 2022, Peter Rawlinson’s total compensation reached $379 million, significantly higher than industry peers, including General Motors CEO Mary Barra ($34 million) and Ford CEO Jim Farley ($18 million) for the same year.
According to an 8-K filing from a year ago, Lucid’s board approved a $6 million cash bonus for Rawlinson in recognition of his role in the Lucid Gravity SUV.
In a past statement addressing concerns over his earnings, Rawlinson emphasized that much of his compensation was tied to stock grants based on Lucid achieving specific market capitalization milestones.
“Many may not be aware of my founding role in this company as we know it today. I joined the company around 11 years ago, with a clear goal of making the very best electric vehicle and to drive a revolution towards sustainable transportation, which is going to benefit everyone on the planet,” Rawlinson said.
“So in 2021, I received a one-time CEO stock grant, and this was solely determined and approved by the Board of Directors. And a significant portion of that vested due to the company achieving certain market capitalization milestones as we publicly disclosed in 2023. So I think there’s a huge misperception that this one-time grant was received as a salary and somehow we replicate it as my salary in the future,” he added.
