The Lucid logo will be unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show on November 20, 2025.
Mike Blake | Reuters
Detroit — lucid group has suspended its full-year vehicle production outlook as its incoming CEO assesses the all-electric vehicle maker’s business operations, including the possibility of lower EV production.
The company said Tuesday it needed to reduce its “increased inventory” of vehicles. For automakers, this has historically meant reduced or halted vehicle production.
A company spokesperson told CNBC there are no current plans to idle the company’s only U.S. factory in Arizona, but incoming CEO Silvio Napoli said the company continues to evaluate Lucid’s business.
“Our key long-term goal is to build a more cost-effective company and build a company that advances our own growth capital. That means rigorously delivering on our commitments,” Napoli said Tuesday during Lucid’s quarterly earnings call with investors. “Simply put, this means making clear choices about where to invest and where not to invest.”
Napoli said it plans to review the company’s management in the coming weeks before updating investors on the company’s guidance when Lucid releases second-quarter results on an unspecified date.
The company’s previous production forecast was between 25,000 and 27,000 units in 2026. Lucid executives talked about cost-cutting and plans for self-driving cars. Uber and Nuro, and the company’s “path to profitability” outlined at its March investor day remains in place.
Based on annual production and deliveries, Lucid will produce approximately 3,200 more vehicles than it sells since 2024. This includes a difference of about 2,000 units last year and a difference of 2,400 units in the first quarter of 2026.
The guidance cuts came after the company reported first-quarter results that were in line with preliminary results released a month earlier, but still significantly missed Wall Street expectations.
“We expect inventory to grow and convert into revenue and cash as deliveries normalize, while maintaining an adjusted production and sales pace,” Lucid Chief Financial Officer Tawfik Bousaid said in a statement. “We are focused on disciplined execution, driving structural cost improvements, efficiently managing capital, and improving operating leverage as we scale.”
Here’s how the company performed in the first quarter compared to average estimates compiled by LSEG:
Loss per share: $3.46, expected loss of $2.64 Revenue: $282.5 million, expected $440.4 million
LSEG said the company’s sales rose about 20% from a year earlier, but far below the 87.4% increase that analysts had expected.
The all-electric vehicle maker said issues with its seat supplier “significantly impacted” deliveries of its flagship Lucid Gravity SUV during the quarter, leading to the vehicle’s discontinuation due to safety concerns.
Busse said the seating issue caused more than $200 million in lost revenue in the first quarter.
Lucid produced 5,500 vehicles and delivered 3,093 vehicles in the first quarter of 2026.
The company, which is heavily supported by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, said it has sufficient liquidity until the second half of 2027. We ended the quarter with approximately $4.7 billion, including our recent capital raising and delayed drawdown financing provided by PIF.
Lucid announced on Tuesday that production at a new car factory in Saudi Arabia continues despite the ongoing war in neighboring Iran. The company said other than some delays in shipments, there have been no significant disruptions to its facilities.
The company also said it is adjusting production reporting to count vehicles that have completed the company’s “factory gate process.” This also includes vehicles that may not be fully manufactured and operated elsewhere for completion.
