Lucid Motors Strengthens Leadership Team Ahead of Public Listing

Lucid Motors is actively expanding its executive and technical leadership, recruiting talent from prominent companies like Waymo, Intel, and Xperi. This strategic move precedes the company’s anticipated transition to a publicly listed entity.

New Executive Appointments

The automaker announced on Wednesday the appointment of Sherry House as its new Chief Financial Officer. Ms. House brings extensive experience from her previous role at Waymo.

During her four years at Waymo, House served as both Treasurer and Head of Investor Relations. Before joining Waymo, she held the position of Vice President of Corporate Development at Visteon Corporation.

Furthermore, Lucid has appointed Margaret Burgraff, formerly of Apple and Intel, as Vice President of Software Validation. Sanjay Chandra joins as Vice President of Information Technology, and Jeff Curry assumes the role of Vice President of Marketing and Communications.

Burgraff’s recent experience includes serving as Vice President of Global Developer Relations at Intel, overseeing collaboration with independent software vendors. She also contributed as a partner at Continuous Ventures, a firm focused on supporting technology startups.

Chandra transitions from his position as Chief Information Officer and Head of Cloud Operations at TiVo/Xperi. His career also encompasses roles at PayPal, Virgin Mobile, and Workday.

Curry arrives from the Jaguar brand, where he held a chief marketing position. He also has experience with Ferrari and Audi, alongside a VP-level role at SiriusXM. He is also a founding partner of the brand strategy firm, Mere Mortals.

Preparing for Public Markets

These appointments occur shortly before the expected completion of Lucid’s merger with Churchill Capital IV Corp. This merger will officially establish Lucid as a publicly traded company.

The resulting company, with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign fund remaining the largest shareholder, boasts a transaction equity value of $11.75 billion. The private investment in this public equity deal is valued at $15 per share.

This arrangement establishes a pro-forma equity value of $24 billion. The combined private investment and funds from Churchill Capital will provide Lucid with approximately $4.4 billion in total funding.

Production and Future Vehicle Plans

The public listing will provide Lucid with the necessary capital to initiate production of its flagship all-electric vehicle, the Lucid Air. Initial production and deliveries were originally slated for this spring, but have been rescheduled for the latter half of the year.

The Lucid Air will initially be available in North America, with expansion to Europe planned for 2022 and China in 2023.

Lucid also intends to introduce a second vehicle, the Gravity, a performance luxury SUV, to the North American market in 2023.

Manufacturing Capacity

Vehicle production will take place at Lucid’s new factory in Casa Grande, Arizona. The first phase of this $700 million facility was completed late last year.

Currently, the factory has a production capacity of 30,000 vehicles annually. Lucid plans to expand the facility through three additional phases.

These expansions are projected to increase the factory’s production capacity to 365,000 units per year.