A few days ago, the American electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian announced its 2021 car production and sales. According to the disclosure, Rivian produced 1,015 electric vehicles and delivered 920 in 2021. That is, the remaining 95 cars will be delivered to customers in 2022. Rivian didn't say how many of them were R1T or R1S. If Rivian will also make Amazon delivery trucks, it could make a big contribution to the above numbers.
The Wall Street Journal found that the company's COO (chief operating officer) left in December. Rod Copes retired from Rivian during a period of production acceleration. It is unclear whether this management shift has affected Rivian's production and delivery.
To date, the first Rivian R1T Hyundai electric pickup truck sold in the United States has been a great success among critics, winning multiple awards, including the 2022 Automotive Trend Truck of the Year Award. Regarding R1S, we know that two of them have been delivered to Company CEO RJ Scaringe and Rivian's CFO (Chief Financial Officer) Claire McDonald.
To ramp up production, Rivian had to get its Normal plant in Illinois running at full speed. The company announced that its next plant will be located in Georgia, which will produce 400,000 cars a year. However, this will not wait until 2024 or later.
In addition to the Georgia plant, Rivian also plans to build a factory in Europe, with the UK, Germany and the Netherlands more than others wanting the investment. Sources indicate that the British government is doing everything in its power to build a Rivian plant there. However, Rivian may consider the export advantage before making a final decision. With the UK leaving the EU, it may not make much sense to build a factory in the UK.