On the Dash:
- Rivian cut hundreds of jobs in service and sales, less than 2% of its workforce.
- The R2 launched last week, with the edition starting around $58,000.
- Rivian hopes the more affordable R2 will help reverse years of financial losses.
Rivian laid off hundreds of employees Tuesday, about a week after launching its R2 SUV, according to The Wall Street Journal.
A company spokesperson told the Journal that the cuts affect less than 2% of Rivian’s workforce. The EV startup employed roughly 15,200 people at the end of 2025. The reductions targeted the company’s service and customer organization, which handles sales and marketing.
The R2 debuted last week, starting around $58,000, with cheaper trims expected later. R2 lease prices start around $829 a month and require a smaller down payment than the pricier R1S. About half of early R2 buyers chose to lease, matching company projections.
Tuesday’s cuts follow several rounds of layoffs over the past year. Reuters reported that the automaker cut more than 600 workers in October, about 4.5% of its workforce at the time. The company tied those cuts to the September expiration of federal EV tax credits.
Rivian was founded in 2009 but has yet to turn an annual profit. Sales of the R1S and R1T fell 15% and 4% year over year in May, according to Motor Intelligence data cited by the Journal. Those models can cost as much as $100,000. The company hopes the more affordable R2 will help turn things around.
Last year, Rivian brought in $5.4 billion in revenue on about 42,000 vehicles sold. Rivian no longer expects to hit its 2027 adjusted core profit target, Reuters reported. Despite the losses, the company says it continues to invest in research and development to accelerate its self-driving technology.
The company sells directly to consumers and skips the franchised-dealer network that nearly every other automaker relies on. That model is legal in only about half of the U.S. states. In the rest, retail spaces can show off vehicles but can’t complete a sale or provide a price quote. Washington only opened its market to direct sales this spring, after Rivian threatened a costly ballot fight.
The direct-to-consumer sales model could weigh on revenue if Rivian can’t convert demand into sales in states still closed to it.
