Rivian was once envisioned as “the next Tesla,” an electric vehicle manufacturer poised to grow rapidly and upset age-old giants of the auto industry like Ford Motor, General Motors and Volkswagen. It planned to create an electric pickup and an SUV — models that would differentiate it from the minimalist electric cars Tesla produces.
The company received billions of dollars in backing from investors, including Ford and Amazon, who announced it planned to buy 100,000 electric vans from Rivian.
Rivian’s IPO was the largest of 2021 and within days the stock price skyrocketed. For a time, the company’s market value was greater than Ford and General Motors combined.
But trouble finding critical computer chips and manufacturing problems at the Normal, Illinois plant kept production well below what the company had hoped. It has also struggled to build vans for Amazon. Rivian’s stock price plummeted and investors remain concerned about the company’s prospects.
As production ramps up, it faces a tougher competitive landscape. Ford has started making an electric pickup, the F-150 Lightning, which is likely to pass Rivian on sale by the end of the year. Ford, Volkswagen, Hyundai and several others have ramped up sales of electric SUVs, and GM has said it will start selling an electric version of its Chevrolet Silverado pickup and a few electric SUVs next year.
Buyers of some of Rivian’s vehicles are also expected to soon lose access to a federal tax credit under the climate bill that the House is expected to approve Friday; the Senate approved it on Sunday. Under the bill, purchases of vans, SUVs and pickups that sell for more than $80,000 are not eligible for tax credits. The credits are also not available to individuals or couples earning more than $150,000 or $300,000 per year.
Rivian said last month it laid off about 6 percent of its 11,500 employees. “To fully realize our potential, our strategy must support our sustainable growth as we move towards profitability,” Mr Scaringe said in a letter to employees. “We need to be able to continue to grow and scale in this macro environment without additional funding.”
