All-electric R1T pickup truck manufacturer Rivian has filed a new lawsuit against a major automotive seat manufacturer in Michigan. The company in question had entered into an agreement with Rivian to supply seats for its upcoming Amazon delivery van. Now, Rivian says that the parts supplier has nearly doubled its pricing and that production of the van could be delayed.
Commercial Vehicle Group is the seat supplier at the heart of this lawsuit and according to the Wall Street Journal, they are still working directly with Rivian to find a resolution outside of court. Despite that, Rivian filed the suit in March and is seeking relief from the higher seat pricing.
It specifically alleges that if it can’t get that relief, the production of the Rivian Prime Van, or RPV, could be completely stalled until a solution is found. While it might seem like simply switching providers could be the solution, Rivian says that won’t work either. Evidently, it believes that it could take more than a year to find a replacement.
Related: Rivian’s Amazon Delivery Van Will Come In A Number Of Different Guises
WSJ also reports that the original contract dollar amount per seat unit was $775 but that in February of this year, Commercial Vehicle Group doubled the price. Rivian then paid the higher price in an effort to avoid an interruption.
Up until this news, Rivian has repeatedly stated that it wants to fulfill its 100,000-unit RPV order from Amazon no later than 2025. A year-long delay could prove backbreaking to that effort.
For its part, Commercial Vehicle Group says that it only increased the price after a number of changes to the engineering and design of the seats in question. It also says that Rivian could simply build the vans and install the seats after the dispute is settled.
It would seem that after a slew of recent bad news Rivian would do all it could to keep the line moving, even if that means installing seats at a later date. Shares of the all-electric startup fell almost seven percent on Monday to a near its all-time low of $24.33. A motion hearing is scheduled for tomorrow, May 17, in Michigan.
