Rivian’s cost-cutting measures have gotten it lots nearer to profitability, however the firm is warning that 2025 may nonetheless be a difficult yr — particularly due to the whorl of uncertainty brought on by the brand new Trump administration.
The firm introduced Thursday its fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 monetary outcomes, and together with it, shared plans to ship between 46,000 and 51,000 EVs throughout 2025. Rivian cautioned that “changes to government policies and regulations, and a challenging demand environment” may have an effect on these outcomes, in keeping with the shareholder letter the EV maker launched alongside its outcomes.
Rivian didn’t specify what these adjustments may be, however Trump mentioned on the marketing campaign path that he was inclined to discover a technique to kill the $7,500 federal EV tax credit score. Friend of the Trump administration Vivek Ramaswamy has additionally referred to as for the clawback of a $6.6 billion mortgage from the Department of Energy to construct a plant in Georgia. That mortgage was finalized three days earlier than Trump took workplace.
“We’re really looking forward to working with the new administration and Department of Energy on our loan, and we share in the President’s desire to bring jobs back to the US,” Rivian’s chief monetary officer Claire McDonough mentioned on a convention name Thursday, noting that the corporate plans to create 7,500 manufacturing jobs on the deliberate Georgia plant. She mentioned later within the name that Rivian is planning to take a success as massive as “hundreds of millions” of {dollars} associated to tariffs, any lack of EV credit, and different coverage adjustments.
“We really believe, and we’re very aligned with the administration on this, that the U.S. needs to continue to be a world leader in this regard, and our investment into electronics, into software, into autonomy and AI — these are really key areas for us as a country to continue to exercise a leadership position in,” CEO RJ Scaringe mentioned on the decision.
Rivian’s cost-cutting tear
Rivian spent a lot of 2024 on a cost-cutting tear. It laid off 10% of its workforce in February, and rolled out simplified, cheaper-to-make variations of its flagship EVs — the R1T pickup and the R1S SUV — in June. The firm ended up altering 600 components on these autos to drive down manufacturing prices, whereas additionally revamping its electrical structure and software program consumer interface.
Changes like these helped Rivian notch $170 million of optimistic gross revenue within the remaining quarter of 2024 – although $60 million of that got here from software program and companies.
Rivian reported $1.7 billion in income for the fourth quarter, a 32% enhance from the identical interval in 2023. The bulk of its This fall income — about $1.5 billion — got here from the sale of 14,183 autos in addition to $299 million from the sale of zero-emissions regulatory credit to automakers. For the yr, Rivian reported $325 million in revenues from the sale of regulatory credit.
Revenue from software program is more and more enjoying an vital position. Rivian generated $214 million from software program and companies within the fourth quarter, double the quantity from the same-year in the past interval. Rivian reported $484 million in income for 2024 from software program and companies.
Rivian could also be within the enterprise of constructing and promoting EVs, however its future can also be largely pinned to software program, specifically via a profitable three way partnership with Volkswagen Group.
Revenue from software program was primarily pushed by charging and subscriptions charges, restore and upkeep companies, and new automobile electrical structure and software program growth companies supplied by the three way partnership, in keeping with Rivian.
Gen AI involves Rivian
The firm has turned to generative AI as one instrument to streamline customer support and cut back prices. The thought is to make use of AI to automate processes and “greatly reduce administrative overhead on all non-repair tasks,” the corporate mentioned in its shareholder letter.
What that appears like in apply is an AI assistant, or chatbot, built-in into the…
