Lucid Motors had its first-quarter 2026 earnings call on May 5, and the biggest takeaway by far is the fact that the EV maker does not have a production guidance for this year anymore.
While Lucid said in February 2026 that it expected to build between 25,000 and 27,000 vehicles this year—a significant bump over the roughly 18,000 vehicles sold in 2025—the company has now suspended the prior annual guidance “pending a comprehensive strategic review by incoming CEO Silvio Napoli.”
As a reminder, Lucid Group announced on April 14 that Silvio Napoli, a former CEO of elevator manufacturer Schindler Group, will be its next CEO. Napoli will take over in the coming weeks, although no exact start date has been announced.
Lucid Produced Way More Vehicles in Q1 Than It Could Deliver
Lucid Motors
“With Silvio now on board and conducting his review of the business, we are suspending our prior guidance and we provide a full updated outlook at our Q2 earnings call,” said Lucid chief financial officer Taoufiq Boussaid.
He emphasized that the suspension of the annual guidance was a “governance decision,” adding that “a full updated outlook” will be provided during the second-quarter earnings call in a few months.
Lucid produced 5,500 vehicles in the first quarter of this year, up 149% from the first quarter of 2025 thanks to the launch of the Gravity SUV. The company only managed to deliver 3,093 vehicles in the quarter, though.
While January and March deliveries exceeded prior-year periods, February delivery timing was affected by a production disruption and a temporary stop-sale due to problems with a seat supplier that affected Gravity SUV deliveries for 29 days, according to TechCrunch.
Building more vehicles than it was able to sell resulted in an inflated inventory, something Lucid will have to correct going forward.
“Near-term demand conditions remain uneven, and we are managing our production cadence accordingly. Our 2026 objective is unchanged. We continue to work to closely align production with demand to avoid excess inventory. We are not constrained on capacity,” Boussaid noted.
Why 2026 Is a Very Important Year for Lucid
This year has been complicated so far for Lucid, which has announced a company-wide cost-cutting push. In February, the EV maker said it would lay off 12% of its global salaried workforce due to declining U.S. demand.
In a May 5 SEC filing, Lucid disclosed that the layoffs would cost the company around $40 million in the near term, but noted that the cuts would ultimately save as much as $500 million over the next few years.
It’s worth noting that the cuts did not include manufacturing jobs, as Lucid previously said it would start building its first high-volume vehicle before the end of this year, a midsize EV priced below $50,000.
On the earnings call, the company said the production ramp-up of the new model will follow in 2027. “The plan remains to ramp up midsize vehicle production in 2027,” said interim CEO Mark Winterhoff. In March, Lucid said its midsize platform would underpin three vehicles: Cosmos, Earth and an as-yet-unnamed model.
Lucid also confirmed yesterday that it remains on track to start production of an autonomous version of the Gravity SUV in the fourth quarter. The self-driving EV will be used by a robotaxi service the company plans to start with Uber and Nuro by the end of this year. The partnership will include at least 35,000 vehicles, including Gravity and midsize vehicles.
