Dive Brief:

• Electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid Motors updated the compensation arrangements for its CFO Taoufiq Boussaid, adjusting a housing agreement and making tweaks associated with his retirement, relating to his status as a French national, according to a recent securities filing.
• Boussaid took Lucid’s CFO seat last February, receiving a temporary housing subsidy as part of an agreement to relocate to the company’s Newark, California headquarters, and an annual stipend of $100,000 to help “defray your family’s costs to participate in the French retirement system, to retain necessary multinational taxation firms, and other support needed for future repatriation to France,” according to his offer letter filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2024.
• As part of the amended agreement, Lucid increased his housing subsidy to 12 months from xis and raised the stipend to $200,000, according to the Jan. 23 filing.

Dive Insight:

Boussaid received an annual base salary of $575,000 and a signing bonus of $2 million in taking the CFO seat, according to his 2024 offer letter, and was eligible to receive an annual target bonus of 90% of his base salary.

Among other compensation amendments, Lucid also approved “certain repatriation benefits” and two years of tax and immigration support benefits, with the total not to exceed $275,000, should Boussaid be terminated without cause, according to the SEC filing.

“The Committee believes these adjustments are consistent with their intent with approving the Boussaid Offer Letter but were made as additional circumstances and information became known during the course of Mr. Boussaid’s employment with the Company,” Lucid said in the filing.

The updates come as the automaker prepares for its coming fourth quarter and looks to gain ground in an industry segment that faced rapid change and upheaval in the past year. EV and other automakers in 2025 raced to mitigate the potential impacts from ongoing shifts in regulation as well as tariff and trade policy — such as shifting levies on steel and imported auto parts implemented by the Trump administration and the elimination of an EV tax credit in September, according to previous reports by CFO Dive.

Inflationary pressures and changing consumer buying habits, meanwhile, saw sales and profit margins shrink at many EV players, including Tesla — which still accounts for approximately half of all EVs sold in the U.S., according to recent data from Cox Automotive. Net income attributable to shareholders plunged by 37% during Tesla’s most recent quarter, coming amid a tumultuous battle between CEO Elon Musk and the board related to a $1 trillion pay package for the CEO, CFO Dive previously reported.

U.S. EV sales fell sharply in the fourth quarter, plunging by 46% compared to Q3 of 2025 and 36% year-over-year, according to the Jan. 13 report by Cox Automotive. Overall EV sales for 2025 slumped by just 2% compared to the prior year, however, making it the second-best year for EV sales on record, the report found.

The shifts have prompted many EV makers, including Tesla, Rivian and Lucid, to adjust vehicle pricing or offer new, more affordable models, with Rivian aiming to price its upcoming R2 vehicle at around $45,000.  

Lucid, meanwhile, is working on prototypes for three different midsize vehicles, targeting a “different market” with a more accessible starting price point of around $50,000 — though they will remain premium products, Boussaid told attendees during a talk at the UBS Global Industrials and Transportation conference in December. The company’s Gravity Touring SUV, debuted in November, currently starts at $79,900, according to a company press release.

“Spent time in our prototype build area today watching the first full Lucid midsize vehicles come together,” Nick Twork, Lucid’s head of communications wrote in a Friday post on X regarding the upcoming vehicles. “Same Lucid DNA as Air and Gravity — space, efficiency, dynamics, and range — paired with dramatically improved manufacturability and cost structure. These are going to surprise people. More soon.”

For its fourth quarter, Lucid produced 8,412 vehicles — a 116% rise compared to the previous quarter, according to a delivery and production update released Jan. 5. Its deliveries jumped by 31% quarter over quarter, meanwhile.

Lucid is set to host its Q4 earnings call on Feb. 24.