Electric automaker Rivian announced that former Volvo Cars Chief Operating Officer Javier Varela has joined the company as its new COO, according to a press release. Varela will start at Rivian in August and report directly to Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe.
Varela spent eight years at Volvo Cars, where he led the engineering, program management, manufacturing, supply chain and procurement organizations. He also served as deputy CEO.
Varela succeeds Frank Klein, who has served as Rivian’s COO since June 2022. Klein is stepping down after leading the buildout of the company’s operations, as well as scaling vehicle production of electric delivery vehicles for Amazon and the R1S and R1T EV programs.
“We are thrilled that Javier is bringing his deep experience in the automotive industry to Rivian as we are focused on profitability, operational excellence and delivering R2 to customers as soon as possible,” Scaringe said in the press release. “Javier has a strong background in engineering, program management and innovation and a proven track record of success across a range of operating environments.”
Varela will oversee procurement, manufacturing, logistics and quality at Rivian. He will also help the company improve operational efficiencies ahead of production of its more affordable R2 SUV, which will be built at its factory in Normal, Illinois. Rivian is currently developing a new platform that will underpin both R2 and R3 vehicles.
During the R2 unveiling event in March, Rivian announced it was pausing construction of its $5 billion factory in Georgia where it originally planned to build the lower priced R2. Rivian said the move will reduce the amount of capital it needs to develop, launch and deliver the EV to market. Total cost savings is estimated to be over $2.2 billion, according to Rivian.
Rivian produced 13,980 vehicles in Q1 of 2024, with goals to produce up to 57,000 vehicles this year. However, once R2 production begins in Illinois during the first half of 2026, the automaker plans to expand the plant’s capacity to 215,000 vehicles a year.
“Rivian’s commitment to pushing the industry forward with technologically advanced, highly innovative vehicles is something I’ve admired for a long time,” Varela said. “I’m looking forward to helping the company scale and continue to innovate as it rolls out R2 and its next generation of vehicles.”
