Rivian reports $1.4B first quarter loss

Electric vehicle maker Riv- ian said Tuesday it is making progress in its efforts to rein in costs and shore up its manufacturing capabilities — both critical components to determining when the com- pany might start construc- tion on its planned $5 bil- lion Georgia factory.

The California-based auto- maker recently announced multiple waves of layoffs and slowed vehicle production to transition its existing Illi- nois manufacturing plant to new suppliers to cut costs and improve efficiencies.

The planned Georgia plant in Rutledge also was indefi- nitely delayed as a cost-cut- ting measure, saving Rivian more than $2.2 billion in development costs.

In March, when Rivian announced plans to pause the Georgia plant, it also announced it would shift the start of production of a new crossover, the R2, to its factory in Illinois. The state of Illinois said it would pro- vide $827 million in incen- tives to support the plant expansion.

Rivian told shareholders in a letter Tuesday that moving the start of production of its new R2 crossover to Normal, Illinois, will allow it to “sig- nificantly reduce the capital expenditures required to launch R2,” reducing its expected capital expenditures for this year by $550 million, to $1.2 billion.

“We also expect savings from moving the R2 launch to Normal to impact 2025 and 2026,” the letter said.

Rivian reported $1.2 billion in revenue during this year’s first quarter, an 8.4% decrease from the fourth quarter but 82% more than Rivian reported during the first three months of 2023. The company’s net loss for the first quarter was $1.4 billion..

Cox Enterprises, which owns The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, also owns about a 3% stake in Rivian.