Rivian shipments fall as component shortages slow production

Rivian said Friday that it will build fewer vehicles this year than in 2023 because of a supply chain issue in the third quarter that has now “become more acute in recent weeks.”

The company did not provide details about the affected components, only saying that it was a component shared between its R1 platform (which powers its pickup truck and SUV) and the RCV utility vehicle and that it was in the Electric motors are located.

Rivian now expects to build between 47,000 and 49,000 vehicles in 2024, a big step down from its July goal of 57,000.

The company also delivered fewer electric vehicles in the third quarter than in the second. In the third quarter, only 10,018 Rivian vehicles made it into the hands of customers, compared to 13,970 in the second quarter. Rivian’s chief financial officer, Claire McDonough, warned in an August conference call that shipments would decline because the company sold a lot of inventory in the second quarter.

On Friday, Rivian said it still expects to have met its full-year target of 50,500 to 52,000 vehicle deliveries.

The trouble comes at a precarious time for Rivian. Broadly speaking, the company is eyeing the launch of its lower-cost R2 SUV in 2026, but 2024 is expected to be a relatively flat growth year compared to 2023. So it has focused on cost-saving measures – it stopped hiring 10% of its workforce in February and shelved plans to build a brand new facility in Georgia. Additionally, the R1T pickup truck and R1S SUV were recently revised and their designs were simplified in order to lose less money on each sale.

This story has been updated with information from Rivian’s CFO released in August about delivery numbers.