The company, which just announced shipments of its next-generation laser sensors to Volvo, said it will transition to an “asset-light” business model in which more of its production will be outsourced to partners. As part of the restructuring, at least 147 people will lose their jobs. Luminar has at least 730 employees in the United States, according to LinkedIn.
“Many of these team members have been on our journey with us for years, which is why this is so difficult,” Luminar CEO Austin Russell said in a statement. “We have also made the decision to lay off most of our contractors who supported us (at the start of production). “We have informed affected employees of roles that are no longer required at this time.”
“Many of these team members have been on our journey with us for years.”
Luminar is one of the companies that rose to prominence when the tech industry promoted autonomous vehicles as the future of personal transportation. The company makes lidar, a key ingredient in autonomous driving that uses near-infrared light to detect the shapes and distances of objects. This helps autonomous vehicles “see” other objects on the road, such as cars, pedestrians and cyclists, all without the help of GPS or a network connection.
But as autonomous vehicles have lost some of their luster, Luminar and other players supporting it have fallen on hard times. The company reported a net loss of $571.3 million for 2023, down from $445.9 million in 2022. It also generated $69.7 million in revenue, down from $40.7 million a year earlier. Luminar plans to report its first-quarter earnings next week.
The restructuring is expected to save the company $400 million over the next five years, Russell said, including $80 million in savings “on an annual basis.”
