For Rivian’s earliest customers, timing proved to be an expensive lesson. In early 2022, the young EV maker frustrated reservation holders by announcing steep price hikes for the R1T pickup and R1S SUV just before their launch. As it turns out, that decision came with a hefty price tag of its own.

This week, Rivian confirmed it would pay $250 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed shortly after those price increases were made public.

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In March 2022, Rivian revealed that prices for the R1T would climb from $67,500 to $79,500, while the R1S would rise from $70,000 to $84,500. Price adjustments aren’t unusual in the auto industry, but few companies raise figures that sharply, Tesla’s occasional curveballs aside.

The real misstep came when Rivian initially applied the new prices to existing reservations. That move hit early adopters who had placed their deposits months earlier the hardest, and it didn’t sit well with them.

Rivian reversed course within days, sparing existing customers from the higher prices and limiting the increases to new buyers. But the damage was done.

Soon after, a lawsuit accused the company of including misleading statements and cost estimates in filings made before its 2021 IPO about the true expenses involved in producing the R1 lineup.

Now, Rivian has agreed to settle the case. The company will pay $250 million in total, with $67 million covered through its directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, and the remaining $183 million drawn from its cash reserves. The agreement still awaits final approval from the court.

Rivian maintains that it denies all allegations and states the settlement “is not an admission of fault or wrongdoing.”

Anyone who acquired Rivian Class A common stock between November 10, 2021, and March 10, 2022, qualifies as part of the settlement group.

The settlement comes at the worst possible time for the car manufacturer. While it had $4.8 billion in cash and equivalents at the end of June, it needs all the money it can get to successfully launch the mid-size R2, which could prove to be a make-or-break moment for the automaker.

A slowing EV market has prompted Rivian to slash more than 600 jobs across its workforce, despite the company’s expansion plans and having several new models in the pipeline.

The layoffs, which represent about 4.5 percent of Rivian’s staff, were announced soon after the company lowered its delivery forecast for the year, now expecting to sell fewer vehicles than in both 2023 and 2024.

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Most of the reductions are being made across commercial teams in Rivian’s servicing and sales divisions. Additionally, Chief executive RJ Scaringe told employees in an internal memo that the company is consolidating several departments into a single marketing organization, with Scaringe temporarily taking the helm himself.

“These are not changes that were made lightly,” Scaringe wrote. “With the changing operating backdrop, we had to rethink how we are scaling our go-to-market functions. This news is challenging to hear, and the hard work and contributions of the team members who are leaving are greatly appreciated.”

These job cuts, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, come just a month after Rivian made a separate round of layoffs, cutting approximately 225 jobs, also targeting its sales and service operations in both the United States and Canada.

Sales Crunch

Rivian reported a record 13,201 sales in the third quarter, marking a 32 percent rise over the previous period. That figure, however, was partly inflated by customers rushing to buy before the federal EV tax credit expired.

Deliveries are expected to drop sharply in the final quarter, with Rivian forecasting year-end sales between 41,500 and 43,500 vehicles. By contrast, the company delivered 50,100 units in 2023 and 51,579 in 2024, signaling a noticeable downturn as the broader EV market settles into a slower growth phase.

Next year, the electric car manufacturer plans to start production of the long-awaited R2. The upcoming model will be smaller than the current R1T and R1S and is expected to start at around $45,000. After it hits the market, Rivian will follow it up with the R3, R4, and R5.

Rivian has once again trimmed its delivery outlook for the year, now projecting it will finish 2025 with between 41,500 and 43,500 vehicles handed over to customers. Earlier forecasts had painted a more optimistic picture. In May, Rivian suggested it would finish 2025 with between 40,000 and 46,000 deliveries, which was itself a downward revision from an even earlier target of roughly 51,000 vehicles.

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To put these figures into perspective, Rivian sold a total of 50,100 vehicles in 2023 and 51,579 in 2024. While the electric car manufacturer would have inevitably hoped to see sales continue to grow throughout 2025, that hasn’t been the case.

Mixed Numbers

The revision arrives even after Rivian recorded its best sales quarter of the year. Still, the annual forecast hints that appetite for the R1T pickup and R1S SUV may be tapering off, a concern that pushed the company’s stock down nearly 10 percent.

During the past quarter, Rivian delivered a total of 13,201 vehicles and produced 10,720 at its facility in Normal, Illinois. That’s an increase of nearly 32 percent in third-quarter (Q3) deliveries, a surge driven in part by U.S. buyers hurrying to lock in tax credits, even through leasing, before they expired on Tuesday.

Rivian’s Big Hope

Rivian’s long-awaited mid-size R2 cannot come soon enough. It’s been in the works for a couple of years now and is scheduled to launch in the first half of 2026. It will initially be built at an expanded line at the company’s plant in Normal, Illinois, before moving to Rivian’s forthcoming multi-billion-dollar facility in Georgia.

During a recent interview with InsideEVs, Rivian Chief Executive RJ Scaringe noted that while a large car manufacturer like Chevrolet or Volkswagen could absorb the costs of a new model that does not prove popular upon launch, Rivian does not have the same luxury.

“For a big company that has lots of other products, you can absorb that not going well, and the business will be fine,” he said. “For a Rivian, it must go well.” Prices for the R2 will start at approximately $45,000, significantly undercutting the R1-series models that start at over $70,000.