Lucid Motors is changing CEOs for the first time in nearly six years. The company announced Tuesday that Peter Rawlinson is stepping down from the CEO and CTO roles that he’s held since before the company went public. Rawlinson has also left Lucid’s board, according to a regulatory filing.
Lucid appointed its chief operating officer Marc Winterhoff as its interim CEO. Rawlinson will serve as “strategic technical advisor” to Turqi Alnowaiser, who is chairman of the board and a top executive at Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund — Lucid’s majority owner.
The leadership change comes at a critical time for Lucid Motors, which just launched its Gravity SUV late last year. Lucid Motors has high hopes for the electric SUV. The company’s first vehicle — the Air sedan — has struggled to come anywhere near the sales targets it once projected when it went public in 2021. The Gravity is still in the process of being slowly rolled out to early customers, employees, and other people close to the company.
“Now that we have successfully launched the Lucid Gravity, I have decided it is finally the right time for me to step aside from my roles at Lucid,” Rawlinson said in a statement. “I am incredibly proud of the accomplishments the Lucid team have achieved together through my tenure of these past twelve years. We grew from a tiny company with a big ambition, to a widely recognized technological world leader in sustainable mobility.”
Rawlinson can occupy the advisor role until February 2027, and will receive a “monthly payment of $120,000 for services rendered,” along with a complimentary Lucid EV, health insurance, a $2 million stock grant, and more, according to a regulatory filing.
Rawlinson came to Lucid Motors in 2013 back when it was still known as Atieva, and was primarily focused on developing battery packs and other EV powertrain components. He had previously been employed at Tesla as the chief engineer of the Model S sedan — a fact that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly tried to obscure.
Lucid announced Rawlinson’s transition alongside its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2024, as well as for the full year.
The company ultimately delivered 10,241 EVs across 2024, up from just 6,001 in 2023. That generated $808 million in revenue, up from $595 million in 2023. But Lucid still lost a whopping $2.7 billion last year. It lost $2.8 billion in 2023. Lucid said Tuesday that it plans to double production to around 20,000 EVs in 2025.
Lucid finished the year with $1.6 billion in cash and equivalents. It repeatedly tapped Saudi Arabia for billions in funding throughout 2024 to help stay afloat until the launch of the Gravity — despite Rawlinson telling the Financial Times last March that he felt it was “dangerous” to behave like the Kingdom was a source of “bottomless wealth.”
Winterhoff said on a conference call Tuesday that Rawlinson “will not be part of the day-to-day business,” and said the former CEO will only be involved if Lucid’s chairman asks.
“If there are questions arising and the chairman thinks it is worthwhile to involve Peter, then he will, but it’s up to the discretion of the chairman to have that interaction,” Winterhoff said.
Rawlinson was not part of the call — something that analyst John Murphy from Bank of America called out as odd.
“I’m just curious, you know, why Peter isn’t present, and why you would make an announcement like this without a successor?” he asked. “I know it’s a tough question, but I mean, it’s the one that everybody’s thinking.”
“I think we clearly announced that Peter made the decision that after 12 years, it’s now a good time to pass the baton,” Winterhoff said.
