Lucid’s powertrain executive Emad Dlala exits months after promotion

Emad Dlala, a top Lucid Motors executive who had been promoted to a leading role only months earlier, has left the company. Lucid says the departure comes as it reorganizes to accelerate innovation under new CEO Silvio Napoli, including having key engineering

Emad Dlala didn’t stay long in the role he’d just been elevated into.

Lucid Motors confirmed that the longtime executive has left the company just months after being promoted to a leading position. The timing matters because Dlala’s exit is the first major departure among senior executives since Lucid selected Silvio Napoli as its new CEO in April. Napoli formally started in the CEO role just last week.

In a statement to TechCrunch. Lucid Motors said it is “transforming its organization to accelerate innovation and strengthen execution under CEO Silvio Napoli.” As part of that transformation. Vivek Attaluri. the company’s vice president of vehicle engineering. and Marc Solsona Palomar. its vice president of software. will now report directly to Napoli.

Lucid also framed Dlala’s move as a choice. “Emad Dlala has elected to leave the company to pursue other opportunities. We thank Emad for his many contributions over the years and wish him continued success in his future endeavors. Lucid remains focused on streamlining our organization and processes to fully leverage the strength of our team and will communicate further actions soon. ” the company said. Dlala declined to comment.

Before he left, Dlala had been with Lucid Motors for more than a decade, making him one of the company’s longest-serving employees and executives. Over the last five years, he served as vice president and senior vice president of the company’s powertrain team.

His departure lands in the middle of a broader leadership churn inside the company. In November. Dlala was elevated to a role overseeing all of “Engineering and Digital” while Lucid parted ways with its long-time chief engineer Eric Bach. Bach has since sued Lucid Motors for wrongful termination. That lawsuit was later stayed pending arbitration, according to federal court records.

Lucid’s internal reshuffling has also come with direct cost pressure. The company laid off 12% of its workforce in February, as TechCrunch first reported. And the CEO search dragged on as well: Lucid spent a year trying to replace Peter Rawlinson after he suddenly departed in early 2025. before finally picking Napoli.

The changes arrive with major product milestones close behind. Dlala’s exit comes just a few months ahead of the launch of Lucid Motors’ first mass-market vehicle built on its mid-sized platform. called Cosmos. Lucid says the Cosmos EV is supposed to start below $50. 000. a move designed to give the Saudi-owned company a chance at delivering a more affordable. widely adopted car.

Cosmos is also part of Lucid’s push into robotaxis. Lucid has agreed to develop robotaxis with autonomous vehicle company Nuro, starting with its Gravity SUV. The self-driving Gravity is supposed to hit the road in San Francisco by the end of this year.

With Napoli’s leadership beginning to take shape—and more reporting lines reconfigured around him—Dlala’s departure underscores how quickly Lucid is trying to convert a fresh executive era into operational momentum, even as the next wave of vehicles and partnerships approaches.

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