Luminar, maker of lidar for autonomous driving, layoffs of 20 percent of its workforce

Luminar, which makes lidar sensors for autonomous driving systems, announced today plans to lay off 20 percent of its workforce amid a broader restructuring of its production process.

The company, which just announced shipments of its next-generation laser sensors to Volvo, said that it will transition to an “asset light” business model that will see more of its production outsourced to its partners. As part of the restructuring, at least 147 people will lose their jobs. Luminar has at least 730 employees based in the US, 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 roll off the majority of our contractors who supported us to [start of production]. We have informed the affected employees regarding the roles that are no longer required at this juncture.”

Luminar is one of the companies that rose to prominence as the tech industry promoted self-driving cars 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, like 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 supportive players have fallen on hard times. The company reported a net loss of $571.3 million for 2023, up from $445.9 million in 2022. It also brought in $69.7 million in revenue, up from $40.7 million the previous year. Luminar plans to report its first quarter earnings next week.

As it seeks to reduce its costs, the company will outsource its industrialization process to its existing partners. Luminar has inked deals to sell its lidar to Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Audi, Toyota Research Institute, Intel’s Mobileye, Airbus, and two Chinese companies: automaker SAIC and AV operator Pony.ai. Russell said the company will rely on Taiwanese electronics manufacturer TPK for “substantial dedicated industrialization resources.”

The restructuring is expected to net the company $400 million in savings over the next five years, Russell said, including $80 million in savings “on an annual run basis.”

The layoffs at Luminar are just the latest setback to hit the struggling autonomous vehicle industry. Earlier this year, Apple axed its self-driving car project, laying off 600 people in the process. Cruise, which is owned by General Motors, axed 24 percent of its employees after a pedestrian was injured by one of its driverless vehicles. And Aurora, which is working on autonomous trucks, cut 3 percent of its staff.