Lucid Motors hires former Tesla production executive

Lucid Motors said on Monday it had hired Tesla Inc's former vice president of production at its Fremont factory, Peter Hochholdinger, as vice president of manufacturing.

The Newark, California-based electric carmaker in April also named Peter Rawlinson, former chief engineer of Tesla's Model S, as its chief executive officer.

MOTORING PODCAST | Cargumentative: Gymkhana life & best advice

For more episodes, click here. 

Subscribe: iono.fm | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Player.fm

Lucid, which has more than $1 billion investment from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, was founded in 2007 as Atieva by Sam Weng and Bernard Tse, a former vice president of Tesla.

The company positions itself as being less of a direct competitor to Tesla than with luxury car makers such as Audi or BMW, Rawlinson had said.

Hochholdinger, a former production executive at Volkswagen AG, left Tesla last week after three years with the company. At Tesla, he was tasked with improving production of Tesla's luxury Model S sedan and Model X sport utility vehicle as well as helping build a cost-effective manufacturing programme for the Model 3 sedan.

He was the latest high-profile executive to leave Tesla in the past two years, as the automaker struggles to ramp up production of Model 3, which is seen as crucial for its long-term profitability.

Rawlinson said Hochholdinger's experience in manufacturing would help the company in launching Lucid Air and other future models.

Tesla is expected to report its second-quarter delivery and production numbers this week.