Rivian Eyes 45%+ Deliveries Growth During ‘Transformational’ Year
Rivian Automotive Inc. executives have their sights set on producing roughly 4,000 units per week by late this year as they bring to market the R2 sport-utility vehicle that Chairman and CEO R.J. Scaringe calls “a game changer.”
Speaking after Rivian reported its fourth-quarter results Feb. 12, Scaringe and CFO Claire McDonough said they’re targeting full-year output of 62,000 to 67,000 vehicles. The bottom end of that rage would be more than 45% larger than the 42,247 vehicles Southern California-based Rivian delivered in 2025.
That production growth will be a second-half story and driven by the R2, which will sell for roughly $50,000 compared to the $70,000 or more for Rivian’s flagship R1. Scaringe said there’s an opening for the R2 to attract buyers who might have looked first to Tesla’s Model X, which that company is preparing to phase out.
“But I'd just say very broadly that the overall lack of choice, and this is really true in the price category of R2, we think is an enormous opportunity for us to capture market share,” Scaringe added.
McDonough said the Rivian team is planning for total deliveries of between 9,000 and 11,000 per quarter in the first half of 2026, a year she said will be “transformational” for Rivian thanks to the R2’s launch and the continued development of Rivian’s software partnership with the Volkswagen Group and its work on autonomy. From mid-year on, R2 production will ramp at the company’s Normal, Illinois, factory and plans call for a second shift to start work late in the year.
Not surprisingly, the launch of the R2 will ding Rivian’s profitability. Capital spending this year should be about $2 billion versus $1.7 billion in 2025 and will include the beginning of vertical construction of the company’s plant in Georgia. Scaringe and McDonough said they are looking for Rivian’s adjusted EBITDA loss to be between $1.8 billion and $2.1 billion. In 2025, it was nearly $2.1 billion.
Investors liked the sound of Scaringe and McDonough’s outlook and commentary. Shares of Rivian (Ticker: RIVN) popped 20% to $16.84. The move pushed the stock’s gain over the past six months to more than 35%, which has pushed the company’s market capitalization to more than $20 billion.
About the Author
Geert De Lombaerde
Senior Editor
A native of Belgium, Geert De Lombaerde has been in business journalism since the mid-1990s and writes about public companies, markets and economic trends for Endeavor Business Media publications, focusing on IndustryWeek, FleetOwner, Oil & Gas Journal, T&D World and Healthcare Innovation. He also curates the twice-monthly Market Moves Strategy newsletter that showcases Endeavor stories on strategy, leadership and investment and contributes to other Market Moves newsletters.
With a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, he began his reporting career at the Business Courier in Cincinnati in 1997, initially covering retail and the courts before shifting to banking, insurance and investing. He later was managing editor and editor of the Nashville Business Journal before being named editor of the Nashville Post in early 2008. He led a team that helped grow the Post's online traffic more than fivefold before joining Endeavor in September 2021.