Missing parts: Rivian has to put Amazon van production on ice
There is no information about which part is missing or when Rivian hopes to resume production. But apparently, the carmaker believes this to be a short-lived problem without any long-term consequences. “A part shortage has temporarily impacted our Electric Delivery Van (EDV) production. We expect to recover all missed production,” a Rivian spokesperson said in an email to Reuters.
In an email to Bloomberg, Amazon also seemed unfazed by the production pause. “We’re aware that Rivian encountered short-term production issues this month, and we don’t expect it to impact us,” an Amazon spokesperson said
According to Rivian, the shortage had already begun earlier this month at its production facility in Normal, Illinois. Employees are not affected, as the carmaker says that all of them working on the van could still continue working 40 hours a week during the pause.
Just recently, Amazon announced that it already had more than 15,000 Electric Delivery Vans from Rivian in the US. The e-commerce giant initially signed an agreement for 100,000 units in 2019, the first of which were deployed in the US in 2022. All of them are to hit the road by the end of the decade.
Amazon is still one of Rivian’s major investors, holding a 16 per cent stake in the latter. The Electric Delivery Van was initially only produced for Amazon. However, the companies ended their exclusivity agreement at the end of last year, as firm orders from the online dealer remained below expectations.
According to Reuters, sales of the EDV to Amazon represented about 19 per cent of Rivian’s revenue last year. Overall, the carmaker delivered 50,122 vehicles in 2023, compared to 20,322 units in 2022. For this year, the California manufacturer has set a production target of 57,000 vehicles.
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