Despite the blockbuster initial public offering in November 2021, Rivian stock From that month’s peak to Tuesday’s close, it had fallen nearly 90%.
“We must focus our resources on the road to launch and profitability,” Scaringe said in an email, apologizing to employees for the need for cuts.
A Rivian spokeswoman confirmed the emails had been sent but declined to comment further.
Rivian is focused on ramping up production of R1 trucks and EDV delivery vans for its largest shareholder, Amazon, and launching the R2 platform, he said. “The changes we are announcing today reflect this focused roadmap.”
Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., with approximately 14,000 employees, Rivian will lay off approximately 840 employees and will not affect manufacturing operations at its plant in Normal, Illinois.
Rivian, which is losing money on every vehicle it builds, just missed last year’s annual production target of 25,000 vehicles as it grappled with supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We used to halve that goal.
To save more cash, Rivian late last year shelved plans to build delivery vans in Europe with Mercedes-Benz. Rivian previously delayed the launch of his R2 family of small cars, which was scheduled at his $5 billion factory under construction in Georgia, by a year until 2026.
Last July, Rivian, which is set to report fourth-quarter results on February 28, laid off staff and paused several programs as part of a broader restructuring.
As of September 30, 2022, automakers reported $13.27 billion in cash and cash equivalents, down from more than $18 billion a year earlier.