Rivian is looking to build 25,000 vehicles this year despite encountering the same supply chain disruptions as many other automakers.
In a recent letter sent to shareholders regarding its first-quarter results, the car manufacturer noted that its top priority for 2022 is to ramp up production at its factory in Normal, Illinois. So far, it has produced roughly 5,000 examples of the R1T, R1S, and its EDV van for Amazon.
“Supply chain continues to be the bottleneck of our production,” the company’s letter read. “This challenge has continued across a small handful of technical components such as semiconductors, as well as a few non-semiconductor components. Since March 31, 2022, we have been forced to stop production for longer periods than anticipated, resulting in approximately a quarter of the planned production time being lost due to supplier constraints.”
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According to Reuters, Rivian had originally planned to produce 50,000 vehicles in 2022 prior to the supply chain interruptions. Importantly, it had over 90,000 preorders for its R1T and R1S models as of May 9 and even though the company jacked up prices by $14,500 back in March, it has received over 10,000 preorders in the months since for the U.S. and Canadian markets with an average price of over $93,000.
Rivian also finalized its plans to establish a factory in Georgia. The company has received no less than $1.5 billion in state and local government incentives for the site and will create 7,500 jobs at the factory as well as an additional 8,000 indirect jobs. This new site will produce Rivian’s forthcoming ‘R2’ models, including a more “accessibly priced mid-sized SUV targeting global markets.”
Throughout the first quarter, Rivian produced 2,553 units and delivered 1,227 vehicles, generating $95 million in revenue.
“We remain focused on ramping production throughout 2022,” Rivian added in its letter. “We believe that the supply chain constraints will continue to be the limiting factor of our production. Based on the demonstrated production rates and progress we have seen in our facility, we believe if all supply constraints were resolved, our plant would have the ability to run at two times the currently expected output for the remainder of 2022.”