Rivian Begins R2 SUV Deliveries and Lays Off Hundreds of Workers
The electric vehicle maker cut less than 2% of its workforce as it seeks to narrow losses. The move follows the launch of its lower-priced R2 model and comes after the elimination of a federal EV purchase incentive.
Rivian said Tuesday it is laying off hundreds of workers, representing less than 2% of its workforce, as the company works to narrow losses. The cuts affect some teams in the service and customer segments, a spokesperson said. The company had 15,232 employees across North America and Europe at the end of last year.
"We recently restructured a handful of teams within Rivian as we work to profitably scale our business," the company said in a statement. The layoffs come one week after Rivian officially launched deliveries of its R2 SUV. The company has said it hopes to achieve profitability with the R2.
6 billion last year while delivering 42,247 vehicles, according to company filings. Its automotive segment lost about $6,000 per vehicle delivered during the first quarter of this year. The company has never turned an annual profit.
The R2 is intended to move Rivian from a niche luxury EV maker toward a broader market position. The layoffs were first reported by The Wall Street Journal. 5% of its workforce at the time.
Those earlier cuts involved restructurings of marketing, vehicle operations, sales and delivery, and mobile operations teams. Rivian and other EV manufacturers face a more challenging market amid changing regulations under the Trump administration, including the elimination of the $7,500 federal incentive for purchasing an EV.
