Rivian Manufacturing Boss Leaves As A Part Of Corporate Rejig

Rivan's Charley Mwangi, the EVP for its manufacturing engineering who is also a former Tesla alumnus is leaving the company. The electric car maker which had a blockbuster IPO has been struggling to scale up its manufacturing operations and has shaken up its corporate structure splitting up the company into different parts. The manufacturing split involves dividing the company into separate business units - one for the commercial business which involves making electric delivery vans for Amazon which it may even start selling to third parties post-2023. The other is its consumer business which involves the development of its R1S electric SUV and R1T electric truck. 

Rivian Warns Supply Issues To Hit Production, Shares Drop To Record Low

The company has a new COO in Frank Klein who will oversee many senior manufacturing and supply chain employees. So far Rivian has only delivered 1,227 vehicles in the last quarter and made around 5,000 vehicles. It has more than 90,000 reservations for the R1T and the R1S. It said in April that it planned on making 25,000 cars in 2022, while by 2030 it wants to be making 1 million vehicles per year. 

At one point after its IPO, Rivian for the third most valuable carmaker in the world by market capitalisation. It only trailed Tesla and Toyota, but since then it has lost 70 per cent of its value thanks to struggles with manufacturing. Its cars remain very well-reviewed and now it is also starting to enable its charging infrastructure.