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.

Read: Rivian Offers Owners Cash To Sign Away Their Legal Rights

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.

The next few years will be make-or-break for Rivian, a brand still trying to prove it deserves a permanent seat at the EV table. For now, its line-up is limited to two models, the R1S SUV and the R1T pickup, both confined to North America. Sales and production have stumbled rather than soared, and momentum has been hard to come by.

To inject some life into the portfolio, Rivian plans to launch the smaller and more affordable R2 in the first half of 2026. This SUV is being positioned as both a volume-builder and the company’s ticket to international relevance.

Read: Rivian’s R2 Spotted With A Very Interesting Rear Window

Rivian has been planning to grow beyond North America for quite some time, and according to boss RJ Scaringe, it’ll first expand into Europe after the R2’s American launch. The UK, is one of the markets being targeted by the brand, although Scaringe didn’t provide any indication as to exactly when we can expect to see his company’s EVs on the other side of the Atlantic.

A Different Kind of Entry-Level

While recently speaking with Autocar on the sidelines of the Munich motor show, Scaringe described Rivian’s upcoming models as “highly aspirational but highly attainable,” noting that the two qualities rarely align. “Often, when you see the price go down, you see the desirability drop off. But this is what makes our R2 and R3 so interesting: they’re inviting and attainable in their pricing, but they still feel very special,” he said.

It’s likely that the smaller and cheaper R3 will follow in the footsteps of the R2 and will also be sold globally. Moreover, a European launch for Rivian means it will have to start building vehicles in right-hand drive, which will require significant alterations to be made to its factory tooling.

The Numbers That Matter

In the US, the R2 is expected to start at around $45,000, will utilize Rivian’s new midsize platform, and should be available in single-, dual-, and tri-motor configurations. A European price tag of between €40,000 and €50,000 is to be expected for the R2, with the R3 undercutting it slightly.

Rivian has also confirmed where the cars will be built. Production of the R2 will be split between a forthcoming multi-billion-dollar facility in Georgia and an expanded line at its existing plant in Normal, Illinois

Rivian’s on-again, off-again Georgia plant is back in motion as the company held a groundbreaking ceremony in Social Circle. However, it was little more than a dog and pony show as construction isn’t expected to begin until 2026.

The money-losing EV company said surprisingly little about the facility, but noted the plant will be built in two phases with each providing 200,000 units of annual production capacity. That’s a combined total of 400,000 units and these vehicles will be sold domestically and internationally.

What Gets Built Here?

Production plans center on the upcoming R2 and R3. Rivian expects the first vehicles from the Georgia facility to appear in 2028, about two years after R2 manufacturing starts in Normal, Illinois.

More: Rivian R2 Prototype Spied With A Very Interesting Rear Window

The facility is expected to span approximately nine million square feet and it will be located on nearly 2,000 acres of land. Interestingly, Rivian envisions the site will have “recreational trails for employees and customers” as well as a “Rivian experience trail.”

Jobs and Promises

Since Rivian was granted a $6.6 billion loan from the Department of Energy in the waning days of the Biden Administration, it comes as little surprise that stakeholders – including Georgia Republicans – promised thousands of new jobs.

These are said to include 2,000 construction jobs and 7,500 plant jobs by 2030. Nearly 8,000 indirect jobs are also expected and Rivian said all these new openings could “generate over $1 billion in labor income annually – supporting suppliers, vendors and small businesses in the local Jasper, Morgan, Newton and Walton Counties and the surrounding region.”

While only time will tell if the plant lives up to expectations, it’s another feather in Georgia’s electric vehicle cap. As we’ve previously reported, the Peach State is also home to Hyundai’s Metaplant, which builds the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9.

In a statement, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said “We are cementing Rivian’s future at our Georgia plant, helping ensure America maintains its technology leadership and excellence in automobile manufacturing.” He added, “Our Georgia facility will support our global expansion and provide the scale necessary to get millions of future drivers in our incredible all-electric vehicles, both in the United States and overseas.”

For as good as the Rivian R1T and R1S are, they do not sell at the volumes needed to ensure the brand can be profitable. This is why it is venturing downmarket, gearing up to release a more affordable model range known as the R2. And in preparation for its launch, Rivian is looking to slash costs, which means making layoffs.

Rivian confirmed that it recently cut about 225 jobs, roughly 1.5 percent of its 15,000 employees. The reductions targeted its commercial division, which oversees sales and service operations, and affected staff in both the United States and Canada.

Read: Rivian’s Secret Plans Might Include A Lot More Than Just The R2 And R3

Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, a company spokesperson confirmed that employees who were let go are being encouraged to apply for other open positions.

The Trump Effect

While the arrival of Donald Trump to the White House for his second term has been good news for some car manufacturers, including Stellantis with its gas-guzzling Dodge and Ram brands, things are proving to be more difficult for EV makers like Rivian.

As the US administration has eliminated fines for violations of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules, Rivian will no longer need to sell compliance credits to other automakers that would have fallen foul of these rules.

According to Rivian, this alone will cost it an estimated $100 million in revenue. That’s money that could have come in very handy in launching the R2, as well as other future models like the R3, R4, and R5.

Industry Pullback

Rivian is not the only EV maker recalibrating under the new landscape. Several other car companies have also been preparing to reduce production of their EVs, given that the federal EV tax credit will end on September 30. In Detroit, GM has temporarily laid off roughly 360 employees for a month to reduce GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Escalade IQ production.

Rivian has its sights set on a much bigger future. Although production and sales of the R1S SUV and R1T pickup have leveled off over the past two and a half years, the company is already deep into development of its next generation of vehicles.

The R2, a smaller and more affordable model, is set to enter production next year, followed by the R3, which should arrive around 2028 once Rivian’s new Georgia plant is fully operational. And according to the company’s leadership, this is only the beginning.

Future Lineup Taking Shape

Speaking on the Tosh Show podcast with Daniel Tosh, Rivian chief executive RJ Scaringe confirmed that the lineup is expected to grow well beyond the R2 and R3. In fact, he suggested Rivian could eventually offer as many as six distinct models.

Read: ‘The Day I Flooded Rivian And Cost Them Half A Million’ Ex Worker Says

“We think we’ll probably end up with like, maybe, five or six different vehicles,” Scaringe explained. “So after R1, there’s R2 and R3. And after R2 and R3, there’s R4 and R5. And that’s as far out as our product plan goes today, and what we’re working on, but there may be like an R6. I can’t obviously talk about it here or show it to you… but the R4 and R5 are so cool, that’s the next, next thing after R2 and R3.”

Affordable Mass Market EVs

This isn’t the first time that Rivian has hinted at its expanded product plans. During last year’s investor day, Rivian previewed three potential “affordable mass market” vehicles to launch after the R2 and R3.

All of these vehicles were covered by sheets, hiding their designs, but if they do see the light of day, they’ll benefit from the same electrical architecture and software as other Rivian models, as well as future VW products.

Earlier this year, Scaringe noted that there are “very, very few highly compelling choices,” of EVs that cost less than $50,000, noting this is why Tesla has been able to gain such significant market share.

Rivian will no doubt hope that with more affordable models, it will be able to drastically ramp up deliveries and establish itself as a serious threat to not only Tesla but also legacy automakers, which are also investing heavily into EVs, including GM and Ford.

H/T to Motortrend