Fresh off of winning MotorTrend's 2022 "Car of the Year" and a host of other accolades, Lucid is beefing up its talent pool to take its electric vehicle (EV) lineup global. The EV startup that is challenging Tesla and legacy automakers has hired Evelyn Chiang as its VP of Process Transformation and named Walter Ludwig as VP of Global Logistics.
Chiang, a former SAP and Tesla executive, joins Lucid from Siteimprove, where she was most recently COO. At Lucid, she will lead efforts to analyze, harmonize and improve business processes across the organization—a crucial task as the company looks for cost savings and prepares to scale across borders and time zones.
Ludwig joins Lucid after 28 years at Mercedes-Benz, where he held senior roles, including head of operations, head of quality and, most recently, head of central logistics. As Lucid's logistics guru, Ludwig will tap into his experience ramping up and stabilizing automotive manufacturing plants around the world to support Lucid's goal of global expansion. He will also develop and implement new automotive logistics and parts management policies.
"I'm delighted to have Evelyn and Walter join the Lucid leadership team," Lucid CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson stated. "Together, they bring decades of global expertise and operational excellence to the company."
Chiang and Ludwig joined Lucid less than a year after the EV maker began deliveries of the Lucid Air, the first electric sedan produced at its new factory in Casa Grande, Arizona. Lucid's next goal is to expand its international footprint. The automaker launched its first European studio in Germany this past May and aims to open additional studios and service centers in the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland before the end of the year.
The duo's addition signals an upcoming refinement to the company's scaling operations as it looks to avoid funding and quality issues that have plagued competitors. For instance, this year, Faraday Future and Lordstown Motors have revealed that they would need more money to produce their respective EVs. Additionally, Tesla has dealt with ongoing quality issues such as uneven gaps between body panels and mismatched paint.
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