Lucid adds business, logistics execs as EV maker expands to Europe, Middle East

Lucid Group has recruited two industry veterans to its leadership team as the California electric vehicle startup launches in major U.S. cities and prepares to expand to Europe and the Middle East.

Evelyn Chiang, a former Tesla vice president, has been named Lucid's vice president of process transformation, the automaker said. Walter Ludwig, previously head of logistics at Mercedes-Benz Argentina, has taken the role of vice president of global logistics at Lucid.

"I'm delighted to have Evelyn and Walter join the Lucid leadership team," Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson said in a press release last week. "Together, they bring decades of global expertise and operational excellence to the company."

The new executives report directly to Rawlinson.

According to their LinkedIn profiles, Chiang started at Lucid in June and Ludwig in May.

Chiang will lead initiatives "to analyze, harmonize, and improve business processes across the organization," the automaker said. Ludwig will focus on "best practices in automotive logistics and parts management" and working with suppliers.

Lucid has struggled to ramp production of its first vehicle, the Air executive sedan, at its factory near Phoenix.

U.S. registration data from Experian through May shows just 827 Air sedans registered in the five-month period. Lucid has cited supply chain constraints and problems with parts quality.

The automaker will report second-quarter financial results on Aug. 3. Its stock price since the start of the year has fallen by about 50 percent.

Lucid is estimating factory output this year at 12,000 to 14,000 vehicles, far short of the more than 30,000 reservations it has for various Air models.

Chiang worked as vice president of supply chain for Tesla from 2007 to 2010, according to her LinkedIn profile. Most recently, she served for 10 months as COO for software company Siteimprove and for four years at software firm SAP.

"Ms. Chiang brings over 30 years of experience in a variety of industries transforming businesses, managing mass-scale programs, developing global supply chains, and deploying enterprise-wide automation solutions," Lucid said in its press release.

Ludwig has two decades of experience at Mercedes-Benz, according to his LinkedIn profile.

"For the last 20 years, his main management focus has been ramping up and stabilizing manufacturing plants in Germany, China, Russia, Argentina, and the United States," Lucid said.

The direct-to-consumer retailer Lucid has opened 28 retail and service locations in North America since its factory launch last year, and it is now expanding globally.

In May, Lucid opened its first European location, in Germany, with stores planned in the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland this year, the company said.

Lucid also plans to break ground this year on an assembly plant in Saudi Arabia, which owns a majority of Lucid shares through its sovereign wealth fund.

The Saudi government has reached a deal with Lucid to purchase up to 100,000 EVs over the next decade, with the first deliveries next year, the company has said.