Rivian (RIVN) is cutting another 1% of jobs as the EV maker works toward profitability
Rivian (RIVN) is cutting more jobs as the EV maker aims to improve profitability. This is the second round of layoffs this year, but it’s only 1% of the workforce this time.
Rivian is cutting another 1% of jobs
“This was a difficult decision, but a necessary one to support our goal to be gross margin positive by the end of the year,” Rivian said in an emailed statement (via Automotive News).
Rivian plans to cut another 1% of its workforce as the automaker works to improve profitability by the end of the year.
The statement read, “We continue to work to right-size the business and ensure alignment to our priorities.” This is the second round of layoffs from the EV startup this year.
After releasing its fourth quarter and full-year 2024 earnings in February, Rivian announced it was laying off 10% of its salaried employees.
Rivian’s CEO, RJ Scaringe, said the move was to “maximize the amount of impact we can have as a company” on the company’s media call. Scaringe explained that Rivian is “not immune to existing economic and geopolitical uncertainties.”
Rivian beat expectations, delivering 13,588 vehicles in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the EV maker officially shut down production at its Normal, IL manufacturing plant earlier this month for upgrades.
The upgrades are expected to “meaningfully reduce” material costs by the end of the year. Scaringe said a “whole host of changes” will be introduced, resulting in a “dramatic cost reduction” for the R1S and R1T.
Rivian lost $43,372 per vehicle built in the fourth quarter. Although that’s up slightly from Q3 ($30,500), it’s still down significantly from the over $124,000 loss per vehicle in Q4 2022.
Following the plant upgrades, Rivian believes it can achieve a modest growth profit in the fourth quarter.
| Q3 ’22 | Q4 ’22 | Q1 ’23 | Q2 ’23 | Q3 ’23 | Q4 ’23 | |
| Rivian loss per vehicle | $139,277 | $124,162 | $67,329 | $32,594 | $30,500 | $43,372 |
Rivian cutting additional jobs comes after Tesla announced it was reducing its global workforce by more than 10% this week.
Rivian’s stock ended Wednesday near all-time lows of around $8.74 per share. That’s down over 58% in 2024 and 93% from its all-time high of $172 per share shortly after going public in November 2021.
Electrek’s Take
Although it may seem extreme, another 1% cut is not massive. Rivian wants to hit its goal of becoming gross margin positive and believes it can do it with a smaller workforce.
Once its Normal plant reopens, it will go from three shifts to two. However, all assembly line workers will remain. Tim Fallon, executive vice president of manufacturing in Normal, explained, “We are increasing the overall capacity and efficiency of our lines.”
In addition, “we’re making a lot of upgrades to our vehicles, many that you won’t see, but they help us with our costs,” Fallon told the Chicago Tribune.
Rivian has already established itself as a true luxury EV competitor. Its R1S electric SUV was the fourth best-selling EV in the US in the first quarter.
Last month, Rivian unveiled its next-gen R2, a smaller, more affordable electric SUV. It will start at around $45,000 as Rivian expands its market. Rivian also teased an even more compact and affordable R3 and R3X.
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Tesla’s Q2 results are in, and they are way, way down from Q2 of 2024. At the same time, Nissan seems to be in serious trouble and the first-ever all-electric Dodge muscle car is getting recalled because its dumb engine noises are the wrong kind of dumb engine noises. All this and more on today’s deeply troubled episode of Quick Charge!
We’ve also got an awesome article from Micah Toll about a hitherto unexplored genre of electric lawn equipment, a $440 million mining equipment deal, and a list of incompetent, corrupt, and stupid politicians who voted away their constituents’ futures to line their pockets.
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OpenAI is distancing itself from Robinhood‘s latest crypto push after the trading platform began offering tokenized shares of OpenAI and SpaceX to users in Europe.
“These ‘OpenAI tokens’ are not OpenAI equity,” OpenAI wrote on X. “We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it.”
The company said that “any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval — we did not approve any transfer,” and warned users to “please be careful.”
Robinhood announced the launch Monday from Cannes, France, as part of a broader product showcase focused on tokenized equities, staking, and a new blockchain infrastructure play. The company’s stock surged above $100 to hit a new all-time high following the news.
“These tokens give retail investors indirect exposure to private markets, opening up access, and are enabled by Robinhood’s ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle,” a Robinhood spokesperson said in response to the OpenAI post.
Robinhood offered 5 euros worth of OpenAI and SpaceX tokens to eligible EU users who signed up to trade stock tokens by July 7. The assets are issued under the EU’s looser investor restrictions via Robinhood’s crypto platform.
“This is about expanding access,” said Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood’s SVP and GM of crypto. “The goal with tokenization is to let anyone participate in this economy.”
The episode highlights the dynamic between crypto platforms seeking to democratize access to financial products and the companies whose names and equity are being represented on-chain
U.S. users cannot access these tokens due to regulatory restrictions.
Despite the warnings, BYD continues introducing new discounts. On Wednesday, BYD’s luxury off-road brand began offering over 50% Huawei’s smart driving tech.
BYD introduces new discounts on smart driving tech
After BYD cut prices again in May, the China Automobile Manufacturers Association (CAMA) warned that the ultra-low prices are “triggering a new round of price war panic.”
Although they didn’t single out BYD, it was pretty obvious. BYD slashed prices across 22 of its vehicles by up to 34%, triggering several automakers to follow suit in China.
BYD’s cheapest EV, the Seagull, typically starts at about $10,000 (66,800 yuan). After the price cuts, the Seagull is listed at under $8,000 (55,800 yuan).
It doesn’t look like China’s EV leader plans to slow down anytime soon. Fang Cheng Bao, BYD’s luxury off-road brand, introduced new discounts on Huawei’s smart driving tech on Wednesday.
The limited-time offer cuts the price of Huawei’s Qiankun Intelligent Driving High-end Function Package to just 12,000 yuan ($1,700).
Buyers who order the smart driving tech in July will save over 50% compared to its typical price of 32,000 yuan ($4,500).
Earlier this year, Fang Chang Bao launched the Tai 3, its most affordable vehicle, starting at 139,800 yuan ($19,300). The Tai 3 is about the size of the Tesla Model Y, but costs about half as much.
The Tai 3 will spearhead a new sub-brand of electric SUVs following the more premium Bao 8 and Bao 5 hybrid SUVs.
BYD’s luxury off-road brand sold 18,903 vehicles last month, up 50% from May and 605% compared to last year. Fang Cheng Bao has now sold over 10,000 vehicles for three consecutive months.
The Chinese EV giant sold 382,585 vehicles in total in June, an increase of 12% from last year. In the first half of the year, BYD’s cumulative sales reached over 2.1 million, a YOY increase of 33%.
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