Electric car maker Rivian Automotive (RIVN.O) almost fell short of its full-year production target of 25,000 vehicles last year, the company said in a filing late on Tuesday.
Before the Securities and Exchange Commission issued the filing, Rivian’s shares closed down almost 6% to $17.34, but saw minimal movement in after-hours trade.
Rival Tesla (TSLA.O), which also fell short of its production targets, had a worse trading day, as its shares fell more than 12% to $108.10, then limped along after hours.
Rivian, which slashed by half its initial 50,000 production forecast in March 2022, said on Tuesday that it built 24,337 vehicles in 2022 at its Normal, Illinois, plant, and handed over 20,332 to customers. In the fourth quarter, it produced 10,020 and delivered 8,054.
The shortfall in planned production was the most recent in a series of hurdles for the young company, which went public in November 2021.
Like other EV makers, supply-chain disruptions have pressured Rivian, which also delayed a plan last month to build delivery vans in Europe with Mercedes-Benz. Rivian earlier suspended the production startup of its smaller R2 vehicle family to 2026 at the firm’s planned $5 billion factory in Georgia.
In an email addressed to staff on Tuesday, Chief Executive R.J. Scaringe said the company produced 25,051 vehicles in Normal but counted only 24,337 as “factory gated” — that is, cleared for delivery to customers.
Over 700 vehicles at year-end were software validation, awaiting parts, wheel alignment, and charging, Scaringe said, and thus “can’t count toward our official figure.”
He called the final production tally “an incredible achievement” while acknowledging “the commitment and passion of our entire team.” Scaringe pointed to supply-chain issues that caused the closure of the plant for 20 days and affected 50 other days, along with bad weather that closed the factory for five more days.
Buy Bitcoin NowRivian’s stock has plunged since it went public barely 14 months ago. From a peak of around $130 in early November 2021, the company’s shares ended Dec. 30 at $18.43 and continued to tumble on Tuesday.
Rivian’s market value is currently lower than $15 billion, from a high of more than $100 billion just after its IPO. Rival Tesla’s shares dived on Tuesday after the world’s biggest electric car maker fell short of market expectations for fourth-quarter deliveries despite shipping a record number of vehicles.
Tesla lost another $50 billion in value on Tuesday and is currently worth $341 billion – a fall of 72% from its $1.24 trillion peak exactly a year ago.
