Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Electric vehicle maker Rivian quietly removed its Senior Vice President of Vehicle Programs, Donald “DJ” Novotney, from its leadership page on Thursday, marking another executive departure from the Irvine, California-based company.
Last year, the company saw several top executives leave including the Chief Accounting Officer, Chief Communications Officer, VP of Manufacturing Operations and its sales chief.
As of the time of writing, it remains unclear whether Novotney left voluntarily or was pushed out.
Novotney, who joined Rivian in January 2024, reported directly to CEO RJ Scaringe. According to his LinkedIn profile, he had been with the EV maker for one year and three months before his removal from the leadership roster.
Before Rivian, Novotney spent nearly 25 years at Apple, where he was the inaugural member of the original iPod team. He was involved in the development of multiple generations of the iPod and iPhone and was later selected by former Apple hardware chief Dan Riccio to help lead the development of the iPad.
He also worked in Apple’s long-running but ultimately scrapped electric vehicle project, known as the Apple Car.
Novotney’s exit, which was initially reported by Chris Hilbert on X, adds to a string of executive departures at Rivian over the past year.
In July 2024, Chief Accounting Officer Jeffrey Baker resigned, followed just three weeks later by Chief Commercial Officer and President for Business Growth, Dr. Kjell Gruner, who left after just 11 months at the company. Both cited a desire to “pursue other opportunities.”
A month later, in August, Chief Communications Officer Sarah O’Brien, a former Tesla VP, stepped down after just over a year in the role. Around the same time, Vice President of Manufacturing Tim Fallon also left, later joining Stellantis NV as its head of manufacturing for North America.
Rivian sold 4,100 electric vehicles in the United States last month, estimates from Motor Intelligence showed on Monday.
February figures showed a 34% jump from January but a 21% decline when compared to a year ago. This year, the company led by RJ Scaringe expects to deliver between 46,000 and 51,000 vehicles, below most Wall Street expectations.
For the complete year, Rivian stated that it expects “to achieve a modest gross profit.”
