Rivian on target for 25,000 cars with record third quarter

Rivian is on track to meet its production target of 25,000 vehicles this year with a record third quarter. Shares of Rivian rose nearly 8% in premarket trading on Tuesday after the announcement.

Rivian’s positive update came after bigger rival Tesla blamed logistical hurdles for missing market expectations for the number of cars it handed over to customers in the third quarter.

Tesla shares closed down 8.6% on Monday, wiping out more than $71 billion from the company’s market value in one session, or over $5 billion more than what Rivian has lost this year.

With a total of 14,317 vehicles produced so far this year, Rivian has to make more than 10,500 units in the last three months of the year to meet its production target.

“We view the reiterated FY22 production target as the most important component of the release, providing incremental comfort in the company’s ability to increasingly navigate the challenging supply chain backdrop,” Truist Securities analyst Jordan Levy said.

Irvine, Calif.-based Rivian halved its annual production target from 50,000 units in March, as it battled supply chain snarls.

Last week, a court rejected a joint proposal to secure local incentives for Rivian’s $5-billion manufacturing plant in Georgia, where the company proposes to produce 400,000 vehicles annually.

Rivian currently makes the R1T pickup truck, the R1S sports utility vehicle and delivery vans for Amazon at its factory in Normal, Illinois.