Rivian made some big moves early this year that seems to be paying off. It’s increased its production goal for the year and says that it’s already equipped to survive through the end of 2025. It also believes that it’s ready to weather whatever supply chain storms might be on the horizon.
On Tuesday, Rivian increased its predicted production from 50,000 units this year to 52,000. That’s a pretty tiny bump, just four percent, but it’s significant because of what it says about Rivian as a brand. It’s no secret that some EV automakers have cut their production goals time and time again in the face of challenges.
Increasing a public production goal serves to increase both customer and investor confidence. On top of that, CEO RJ Scaringe says that Rivian has enough cash on hand to continue operations through 2025 without issue. In an interview with Reuters, he said that “The cash balance that we have today takes us through 2025… We will be very thoughtful and intentional on how we secure additional capital to support the growth of the R2 program.”
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Those two statements are tied together quite closely. The R2 platform, Rivian’s future smaller SUV, is set to come online in 2026. We’ll get our first look at it next year but between now and the end of 2025, the automaker will be honing the platform and the sales strategy around it.
What it can’t predict is just how volatile the supply chain might be over that time span. Despite that, Scaringe says that the company is in a good position. “There’s always going to be risk associated with supply chain,” he said. “That contemplation of that risk is what’s informed the guidance that we provided.”
So for now, it seems as though moves from earlier this year are paying big dividends. At the beginning of the year, Rivian parted ways with a number of top executives as it reorganized its supply-chain management. In February, it cut six percent of its staff to curtail costs. In March, it cut a further 500 jobs for the same reason. It’s since picked up new executives and announced plans to sell green bonds.
