Rivian lowers its production forecast for 2024

The US electric car manufacturer Rivian is lowering its production forecast for this year to between 47,000 and 49,000 electric vehicles. Although the company kept reaffirming its earlier production target, the adjustment does not really come as a surprise.

Rivian had previously expected to produce 57,000 vehicles this year. The reason for the lowering of the forecast is now a production interruption due to a missing component that is required for both the R1 vehicles and Rivian’s vans. That the carmaker was missing parts to build the latter was confirmed in mid-August. However, Rivian said that other models were not affected.

The problem is that the shortages have worsened in recent weeks. A Rivian spokesperson said the component causing the problem is part of its in-house motors, but declined to provide further details. Rivian’s CEO, RJ Scaringe, had pointed out issues with several suppliers at a Morgan Stanley investor conference last month. “We’ve had a couple of supplier issues of recent that have been challenging and in particular, a few issues around our in-house motors with some of the components that have been painful and a reminder of just how a multi-tiered supply chain can be difficult.”

Even though Rivian has lowered its production forecast, it has confirmed its delivery targets. The carmaker hopes to hand over between 50,500 and 52,000 vehicles this year, a slight one-digit increase compared to 2023.

Rivian also provided figures for the last three months: the company produced 13,157 vehicles and delivered 10,018 units in the third quarter. By comparison, Rivian produced 9,612 vehicles and delivered 13,790 vehicles in the second quarter.

Rivian intends to achieve a significantly higher production output in two years with the launch of the new R2 model. Following the launch in 2026, the company plans to build 155,000 units of the new model annually at its expanded plant in Normal, Illinois. The manufacturer currently offers the R1T pickup and R1S SUV, as well as the Rivian delivery van, primarily intended for Amazon.

There is also new information on the construction of the new Rivian plant in Georgia, which had been put on ice. An application submitted to the US Department of Energy for a federal loan for the new plant indicates that it is scheduled to go partially into operation in the third quarter of 2027 and that the first production expansion will reach full capacity in 2028.

The electric carmaker had halted construction of its planned $5 billion factory in Georgia to speed up production of vehicles on the new R2 platform and save money. To save $2.25 billion and speed up production, Rivian has shifted manufacturing of its R2 midsize SUV, designed to compete with Tesla’s Model Y, to its existing plant in Illinois, where production is scheduled to begin in 2026.

In June, Rivian also signed a deal with Volkswagen to develop car software. For Volkswagen, this is a new attempt to catch up on its software backlog. According to the German carmaker, it will invest up to three billion dollars in Rivian and up to two billion dollars in a planned joint venture by 2026, depending on the achievement of certain milestones.

rivian.com, cnbc.com, reuters.com (factory in Georgia)