Rivian Cuts Staff Amid R2 Launch

Rivian will cut hundreds of jobs—less than 2% of its workforce—in an effort to reduce its losses, just as the U.S. electric vehicle maker begins the first deliveries of its highly anticipated R2 midsize crossover.

The layoffs affect some teams in the service and customer support departments. At the end of last year, the company had 15,232 employees in North America and Europe.

“We recently restructured some teams within Rivian as part of our effort to scale our business profitably,” the company acknowledged after The Wall Street Journal exclusively reported the cuts.

With the R2, the Irvine, California-based company aims to expand its customer base by offering a more affordable model than its three-row SUV and double-cab pickup, known as the R1S and R1T, respectively.

The launch of the crossover is so significant that executives are confident the company—which has never reported an annual profit—will finally break even with this product.

Like Lucid, Rivian has redoubled its efforts to offer vehicles in higher-volume segments after the Trump administration eliminated tax credits for the purchase of zero-emission vehicles nearly a year ago.