Rivian has promoted Alborz Monzavi to Director of R2 General Assembly at its manufacturing plant in Normal, Illinois — as the automaker prepares to begin deliveries of its midsize SUV.
Monzavi announced the appointment on LinkedIn on Friday.
The engineer has been at Rivian for nearly five years, rising through quality and operations roles at the Normal facility since mid-2021.
He describes himself as a “process-driven Senior Operations Manager in the automotive industry, leading large-scale OEM manufacturing operations with a strong focus on Safety, Delivery, Quality, and Cost.”
Monzavi previously served as Senior Operations Manager for General Assembly beginning in September 2024.
Production Ramp
Rivian is entering the final stretch for the R2 SUV — for which the start of production has not been officially announced.
Over the weekend, one of the very first R2s built — identified as VIN number five — was reportedly spotted at a charging station in Kearney, Nebraska.
The Glacier White unit, fitted with all-terrain tyres, came off the line last Friday, according to a post on RivianForums.
The vehicle was driven cross-country from the Normal plant to Rivian‘s Irvine, California headquarters by an employee.
The first units off the production line are expected to go to employees, consistent with standard automotive practice.
The company has emailed staff about an R2 employee delivery programme covering Launch Edition vehicles, with both Rivian and Rivian–VW Technologies Group employees eligible.
Chief Software Officer Wassym Bensaid said last month that employees would receive the first units and drive them for several months before customer deliveries begin.
Last week, he confirmed that the first R2s will be delivered to employees in April, without specifying a date.
Customer deliveries are scheduled to start by the “end of spring,” with the R2 Performance Launch Edition at $57,990 the first trim to reach buyers.
Specs and Pricing
The R2 Performance starts at $57,990, excluding a $1,495 destination charge.
Its dual-motor all-wheel-drive system produces 656 horsepower and 609 lb-ft of torque, with a 0-to-60 mph time as quick as 3.6 seconds and an EPA-estimated range of up to 330 miles.
The launch trim is offered with a limited-time Launch Package that includes a lifetime subscription to Autonomy+, Rivian‘s advanced driver-assistance system.
The company began charging for the software over the weekend, introducing a subscription at $49.99 per month and a full purchase option at $2,500.
Rivian also confirmed two additional variants at the March 12 SXSW launch event — the Premium trim at $53,990, expected in late 2026 with 450 horsepower and 537 lb-ft of torque, and the Standard variant at approximately $45,000, not expected until late 2027.
A revised EPA filing dated March 11 narrowed certification to two R2 Performance AWD variants — one on 21-inch range-optimised wheels and one on 20-inch all-terrain tyres.
Front and rear motors are rated at 219 kW and 270 kW respectively. Curb weight is 4,998 pounds for the 21-inch configuration and 5,016 pounds for the 20-inch version. DC fast charging tops out at 210 kW, with a native NACS connector.
Rivian has said a Gen 3 autonomy stack with LiDAR will be fitted to R2 vehicles starting in late 2026, with launch units shipping with Gen 2 hardware.
R2 Figures
The EPA application included a projected annual model-year sales figure of 25,000 R2 units, broken down as 5,000 in California and 20,000 across other federal states.
The figure aligns with Rivian’s public guidance for 20,000 to 25,000 R2 deliveries in 2026, within a total target of 62,000 to 67,000 vehicles.
R2 production in Normal will start on one shift before adding a second later in the year.
The plant has capacity for 215,000 vehicles annually, including up to 155,000 R2s.
Rivian is pairing the production ramp with an intensifying marketing campaign to expand awareness of a brand.
Between April and May, the company is taking the R2 on a tour across seven US cities, with demo drives expected to start at select Rivian Spaces around July.
This week, Rivian launched “Camp Rivian Powered by AutoCamp” — a branded activation at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival running April 10–12 and 17–19.
Attendees will get an early look at the R2 and be offered the chance to drive the vehicle during their stay.
The Coachella tie-up follows Rivian’s headline sponsorship of the SXSW Festival & Conference in Austin last month, where the R2 made its public debut.
In its February Shareholder Letter, Rivian said it was “scaling our commercial and service infrastructure as well as driving brand awareness in preparation for customer deliveries of R2 in the second quarter of 2026.”
Middle East Conflict
Monzavi is a graduate of K. N. Toosi University of Technology in Tehran, Iran.
In his LinkedIn post, Monzavi struck a reflective tone about the promotion, writing: “With everything happening in my country for years — and especially over the past couple of months — it’s hard to think about celebration.”
“Knowing that my family, friends, and millions of Iranians are facing challenges every single day makes it difficult to truly enjoy moments like this,” he added. “At the same time, it has given me a stronger sense of purpose.”
