By Abhirup Roy and Akash Sriram

(Reuters) - Lucid is on track to launch its midsize electric SUV in 2026, company executives said on Tuesday, as the EV maker looks to tap an increasingly competitive segment dominated by rival Tesla's bestselling Model Y crossover.

"There are a lot of crazy things going on in the world that can affect that (timeline). But currently we are on track," said Derek Jenkins, senior vice president at Lucid.

The company targets a $50,000 price point, which will pit the model against contenders such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the upcoming Rivian R2.

Teams at Lucid have been preparing assembly lines and working with vendors to move ahead with the launch, said Emad Dlala, senior vice-president at the electric-vehicle maker.

TARIFF IMPACT

Lucid is not immune to the Trump administration's tariffs but is working to mitigate its effects, interim CEO Marc Winterhoff told Reuters.

While the EV maker does not plan any price hikes, it has signed agreements with battery cell and graphite suppliers to bring production to the United States, Winterhoff said.

"We have those agreements already. The plants are being built right now, so it's not something that we can switch on today, but it's in the near future," he said.

Former Tesla engineer Peter Rawlinson, who was the CEO of Lucid for more than five years, resigned in February.

The company, backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund PIF, plans to launch the less-expensive Touring variant of the Gravity SUV later this year, starting at $79,900. It expects strong demand for the premium model to help double its 2025 vehicle production to around 20,000 units.

Lucid started producing its Gravity SUV at its Arizona factory last year, with customer orders for the Grand Touring trim opening in November.