Rivian Automotive Inc. is “making progress” in the increase of production of electric vehicles at its Normal, Ill., assembly plant and is aiming to take 10 percent share in the EV market by 2030, CEO RJ Scaringe said on Thursday.
“We’re absolutely making progress,” he said during a Wolfe Research conference of the push to increase vehicle production. “The plant is starting to ramp nicely.”
Rivian shares closed up 10.7 percent to $63.71.
Scaringe, responding to a question about how big Rivian could become by 2030, said the company had the brand position “to build out a portfolio … to allow us to really work toward building a position of 10 percent market share within the EV space.”
He called the global semiconductor chip shortage the “most painful” constraint in the push to build production. The California-based startup produced 1,015 vehicles last year, coming up short of its target of 1,200 due to supply-chain constraints.
Rivian’s stock slumped after it outlined during its first quarterly earnings report as a public company its struggles with the manufacturing of its R1T pickup and R1S SUV. It also has a contract to build 100,000 electric delivery vans by 2025 for Amazon.com, which has a 20 percent stake in Rivian.
Back in December, Scaringe pegged production challenges to global supply-chain constraints, the COVID-19 pandemic, a tight labor market and short-term issues around building electric battery modules.
