Updates share movement in paragraph 1, adds analyst comment in paragraphs 5, 8

By Zaheer Kachwala

Feb 25 (Reuters) - Electric-vehicle maker Lucid Group LCID.O said on Tuesday its Chief Executive Officer Peter Rawlinson will step down from the role, and forecast that vehicle production will more than double this year, sending the company's shares up 7% in extended trading.

The company's operating chief, Marc Winterhoff, will take the position of interim CEO.

"Now that we have successfully launched the Lucid Gravity, I have decided it is finally the right time for me to step aside from my roles at Lucid," Rawlinson said.

The firm also forecast vehicle production this year to be around 20,000, compared with around 9,000 cars it made in 2024.

Andres Sheppard, senior equity analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, said the CEO transition is "surprising" but not unexpected, adding that the production forecast is "encouraging."

The company hired veteran finance professional Taoufiq Boussaid as its chief financial officer last month. Boussaid was previously group CFO of Belgium-listed steel and coatings technology company NV Bekaert SA BEKB.BR and contributed to reducing debt load.

As the EV demand in the United States remains uncertain, Lucid has been trying to diversify its product lineup and step into the SUV market with the Gravity model, going toe-to-toe with Tesla's TSLA.O model X and Rivian's RIVN.O R1S vehicles.

"They (Lucid) still have an amazing product. Now it's just a matter of can they turn the company around, can they increase demand and production with the Gravity, and really that's going to bridge the gap to their mid-size vehicle in 2026," Sheppard said.

The company continues to lose tens of thousands of dollars per vehicle, while rivals such as Rivian move aggressively to cut costs in a bid to make profits.

Lucid reported revenue of $234.5 million, beating Wall Street expectations of $214.2 million, according to data compiled by LSEG.

It posted a loss of $397.2 million in the quarter ended December 31, compared with a loss of $653.8 million a year ago.

Demand for pure battery cars in the U.S. has been slow as people gravitate more towards cheaper hybrids owing to high interest rates and economic uncertainty.

(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

((Zaheer.Kachwala@thomsonreuters.com))