Rivian, the fledgling electric car maker, said Thursday it lost $1.7 billion in the second quarter and expects it will produce just over 26,000 vehicles this year, about a thousand more than previously forecast.
The company said it continues to struggle to get enough components to boost production to higher levels.
“The supply chain continues to be a limiting factor in our production,” the company said in a statement. “However, through close partnership with our suppliers, we are making progress.” Rivian also said it plans to add a second production shift by the end of the third quarter.
Rivian said it generated $364 million in revenue in the three months from April to June, compared with $95 million in the first three months of the year. He also said that customers had ordered 98,000 vehicles by the end of June.
Last month, Rivian said it produced 4,401 vehicles and delivered 4,467 to customers in the second quarter.
Rivian was once billed as the “next Tesla,” an electric car maker poised for rapid growth and upsetting century-old auto giants like Ford Motor, General Motors and Volkswagen. It was planned to make an electric pickup truck and station wagon — models that would distinguish it from Tesla’s minimalist electric cars.
The company has received billions of dollars in backing from investors, including Ford and Amazon, which have announced plans to buy 100,000 electric vans from Rivian.
Rivian’s initial public offering was the largest in 2021, and its share price soared within days. For a time, the company’s market value was greater than that of Ford and General Motors combined.
But difficulty finding critical computer chips and production problems at a plant in Normal, Illinois, meant that production was far below what the company had hoped for. He also struggled to build delivery vans for Amazon. Rivian’s share price has fallen sharply, and investors remain concerned about the company’s prospects.
Now that production is growing, it faces tougher competition. Ford has begun production of the F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck, which is likely to overtake the Rivian in sales by the end of the year. Ford, Volkswagen, Hyundai and several others have increased sales of electric SUVs, and GM said it will start selling an electric version of its Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck and a pair of electric SUVs next year.
Buyers of some Rivian vehicles are expected to soon lose access to a federal tax credit under the climate bill the House is expected to approve Friday; The Senate passed it on Sunday. Under the bill, purchases of vans, SUVs and pickup trucks that sell for more than $80,000 would not qualify for the tax credit. The loans also won’t be available to individuals or couples earning more than $150,000 or $300,000 a year.
Last month, Rivian said it was laying off about 6 percent of its 11,500 employees. “To realize our full potential, our strategy must support our sustainable growth as we approach profitability,” said the company’s chief executive, R.J. Scoringe in a letter to employees. “We need to be able to continue to grow and scale without additional funding in this macro environment.”
