Lucid Motors announces CEO resignation, plans to double production to 20,000 units

Electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors said CEO Peter Rawlinson has stepped down, expecting to double vehicle production this year to 20,000 units.

It explained that Mark Winterhoff, the company’s chief operating officer, has taken over as interim CEO. Rawlinson will serve as “strategic technical advisor to the chairman of the board, stepping down from his previous roles.”

Winterhoff told CNBC that Rawlinson’s decision to step down was effective Friday, but declined to go into any further details.

“It was Peter’s decision after 12 years of hard work or day-to-day activities and getting the company to where it is today,” said Winterhoff, who joined Lucid from Roland Berger in December 2023. “It was time to step down and pass the baton.” For his part, Rawlinson said in a statement on LinkedIn that he decided it was “finally the right time” to step down after “successfully launching” the company’s second product, a three-row SUV called the Gravity. He did not elaborate further on the decision in the lengthy post. Rawlinson’s departure is unexpected. As one of the company’s largest shareholders, Rawlinson, who also served as chief technology officer, routinely touted his passion for and stake in the automaker. He led Lucid to an IPO through a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company in July 2021.