Shares of Lucid closed higher by 8% today following an executive switch-up. Current manufacturing Vice President Peter Hochholdinger will no longer oversee manufacturing quality. Vice President of Global Quality Nicolas Minbiole will replace the executive. As part of the role, Minbiole will oversee quality for “manufacturing, suppliers, and packaging.”
Minbiole is a longtime mobility veteran with an extensive past of overseeing quality protocols. Previously, the executive worked at Airbus (OTCMKTS:EADSY) as the Senior Vice President of Quality. Before that, Minbiole was the Vice President of Global Quality at Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA).
LCID stock has declined by around 50% YTD. The company has been plagued by ramp-up challenges, supply-chain issues and rising interest rates. Investors are hoping Minbiole will be able to help Lucid manufacture higher-quality electric vehicles (EVs) amid these challenges.
LCID Stock: Minbiole to Take Over Quality Oversight
This change in leadership comes after Lucid issued a recall for 1,117 Lucid Airs. The recall happened due to unsecured wires in some 2022 Lucid Air models, which can cause the EV’s dashboard to turn off. Disabled dashboards can fail to show critical information, such as speed, gear selection and warning indicators. Lucid plans to notify affected customers by June 20.
That said, InsideEVs reports that an affected customer has already contacted a Lucid customer service center and had the error fixed in just minutes. The customer said, “Literally all that’s needed are some zip ties to make sure the Ethernet wiring harness is secured.”
This is the company’s second recall since delivering its first vehicle. Its first recall occurred back in February but only affected around 200 vehicles.
Business Insider reports that Lucid’s biggest challenge relates to quality. According to anonymous sources, Lucid sees “broken windshield glass, ill-fitting parts, and installation problems during assembly.” In the past, Lucid has also allegedly had to buy parts through Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) due to supply-chain constraints and “send developers to customer homes to deal with software glitches.”
Currently, Lucid has a 2022 production target of between 12,000 and 14,000 vehicles. Previously, Lucid had guided for 20,000 vehicles before having to lower that goal.
On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
