Rivian Plans Cut to 10% of Salaried Staff

Rivian Automotive Inc., ( RIVN ) to cut 10% of its salaried workforce and set production guidance well below Wall Street’s expectations as the maker of electric vehicles grapples with stagnant demand and economic turbulence.

Rivian Automotive Inc., ( RIVN ) will build 57,000 vehicles this year, roughly in line with its 2023 output, according to a statement Wednesday that also detailed fourth-quarter results. The forecast fell far short of analysts’ average estimate of more than 80,000 units in 2024.

“Our business is not immune to existing economic and geopolitical uncertainties,” Chief Executive Officer RJ Scaringe said on a conference call. “Most notably, the impact of historically high interest rates, which has negatively impacted demand.”

Rivian’s shares fell 16% to $12.98 as of 6:32 p.m. after regular trading in New York. Rivian ( RIVN ) had already tumbled 34% this year through Wednesday’s close.

Rivian ( RIVN ) expects an adjusted loss before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of $2.7 billion for the full year.

That outlook underscores the challenge of scaling production and stemming losses in an environment of waning consumer demand for battery-powered vehicles. The automaker has aimed to challenge EV market leader Tesla Inc. following Rivian’s blockbuster stock listing in 2021, but it has since dealt with supply-chain woes and other challenges.

The layoffs, part of an aggressive cost-cutting effort, follow job reductions last year and in 2022. Capital expenditures this year will rise to more than $1.7 billion, Rivian ( RIVN ) said, up from a little over $1 billion in 2023. It had initially forecast spending on the order of $2 billion last year.

Rivian ($RIVM) builds two consumer EVs and a battery-electric delivery van at a sole plant in Normal, Illinois. There’s a second factory in the works near Atlanta, where it plans to build its first mass-market, lower-priced EV starting in 2026.

Rivian Automotive Inc., ( RIVN ) reported an adjusted loss last quarter of $1.36 a share, compared with an average $1.33 deficit in estimates. Revenue of $1.32 billion narrowly topped expectations.

Rivian ( RIVN ) lost more than $40,000 on every vehicle it delivered in the last three months of the year, more than the loss of a little over $30,000 per vehicle in the third quarter. The company attributed that, in part, to delivery of fewer lower-cost vans to Amazon.com. The quarterly loss showed improvement compared with the $124,000 it lost on every vehicle a year ago due to supply chain issues.