Rivian: Will Tesla’s Closest Rival Put a Horrible Year Behind and Meet Production Goals in 2023?

Electric car giant Tesla had a few nasty days last week after the annual numbers showed its delivery figures were below expectations, leading to a rout in the stock.

Meanwhile, Rivian, the newly minted electric car maker that is touted as the closest rival to Tesla reported that it sold more than 20,000 cars in 2022 and production stood at 25,000. The shares of Rivian rose one percent after the report.

Stock Rout in 2022

Rivian ad set a goal of producing at least 50,000 cars in 2022. The low sales and production numbers have capped a horrible year for Rivian, whose stock lost a whopping 83 percent in the last year. Rivian’s market capitalization, which was once above $100 billion, has now shrunk to about $15 billion.

Rivian, which has a plant in Illinois, started producing cars in 2021. It had set a target for selling 50,000 cars in 2023 but the actual numbers have fallen far short.

However, CEO RJ Scaringe remains upbeat. He told employees that Rivian’s performance was “an incredible achievement.” Scaringe said had it not been for the supply chain issues that marred the plans of most of the automakers, the company would have been able to produce more vehicles.

Backed by Big Companies

According to The Street, the message generated confidence in the investors, manifested by a 1 percent rise as against the 12 percent dive Tesla faced.

Rivian is backed by some of the biggest companies that include e-commerce giant Amazon and the second largest US carmaker Ford. Rivian has gained popularity since it first disclosed in 2018 its plans of rolling out an electric pickup truck, the Rivian R1T, and a seven-seater SUV, the Rivian R1S.

The flexible modular architecture is described by the company as a “skateboard” that packages electric motors, batteries, brakes, and other electronics into a single unit. The model can be applied in different vehicles. Although Tesla is one of the most prominent names in the electric vehicles category, investors over the past year have shown more faith in Rivian.