Dive Brief:
- Rivian Automotive maintained production pace in Q1 ahead of a previously planned shutdown at its manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois, in Q2, the company announced last week.
- The electric vehicle maker produced 13,980 vehicles and delivered 13,588 vehicles during the first quarter of 2024. Rivian expects to produce 57,000 vehicles this year, slightly less than the 57,232 it made in 2023, according to its annual report.
- The company noted in the report that retooling the plant will increase production capacity and cut costs, a critical step in reducing its burn rate.
Dive Insight:
The news comes about a month after Rivian announced it is pausing construction on its $5 billion Georgia plant, where the company planned to manufacture its R2 model. Instead, the company will launch R2 production at its Normal facility in 2026, saving $2.25 billion in the process.
Ahead of the launch, Rivian is increasing its annual production capacity at its Normal facility from 150,000 to 215,000 units, the company confirmed to Automotive Dive.
The EV maker has a plan for resuming work in Georgia, a Rivian spokesperson said in the email.
“We remain deeply committed to the state and the community, and we anticipate resuming construction following the initial ramp of R2 production in Normal facility,” the spokesperson said.
Rivian hasn’t disclosed many details about the Normal plant retooling effort, but in a conversation with Goldman Sachs at the Global Automotive & Mobility Tech Conference, CFO Claire McDonough said it will use the production pause to introduce a number of new technologies into its R1 vehicle platform.
“We've reduced the number of electronic control units by about 60%,” she said. “We've also reduced the length of the wire harness in the vehicles by 25% and given we're not wiring to all of those incremental ECUs [electronic control units] as well.”
McDonough said the line changes will result in “significant” cost savings for the company.
Rivian lost about $43,000 per vehicle in 2023 and reported a net loss of $5.4 billion last year, according to securities filings. It delivered just over 50,000 vehicles in 2023, in line with the company’s forecast at the outset of the year.
Rivian will report first quarter financial results on May 7 after market close, according to last week’s press release.
