Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
During the second quarter, electric vehicle (EV) maker Rivian halted production at its facility in Normal, Illinois, to improve efficiency and reduce costs amid the launch of the new generation R1 models
Rivian CFO Claire McDonough, revealed during the earnings conference call late Tuesday the company will do a second pause in Normal one year from now to prepare for the mass production of the cheaper, smaller R2 model.
“As we look ahead for 2025, we expect that our normal facility will not be producing vehicles for more than one month during the second half of the year as we upgrade and integrate new equipment into the plant ahead of our first half of 2026 R2 launch,” McDonough said.
Rivian reported $1.16 billion of revenue while negative gross profit increased year over year to $451 million from $412 million. The company expects to reach “modest gross profit” by the last quarter of the year.
In a statement, Rivian said that the losses increased due to a lower average selling price, purchase commitments, among other reasons.
“We continue to see a clear path to a long-term, approximately 25% gross margin target, high teens adjusted EBITDA margin target, and approximately 10% free cash flow margin target,” the CFO stated.
Earlier this week, Rivian has begun deploying its latest over-the-air (OTA) software update, version 2024.27, for the second-generation R1 models (R1S and R1T).
The update brings access to new apps such as Apple Music and Audible, a 60-Day Trial of Connect+ and several enhancements.
Last week, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe revealed that the company will no longer use Mobileye’s tech in the Gen-2 vehicles.
In an interview with “The InEVitable” podcast, Scaringe emphasized the limitations of Mobileye’s system for Rivian’s long-term goals in autonomy.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
