Rivian's Q4 Delivery Dip Attributed to Increased Van Production for Amazon

Rivian Automotive Inc, known by its ticker RIVN, reported a mismatch in production and delivery figures for the last quarter that has caught the attention of industry analysts. The electric vehicle manufacturer successfully produced 17,541 vehicles but delivered only 13,972 units. This discrepancy was even more pronounced when considering the full year's numbers, with 57,232 vehicles having been produced but just 50,122 delivered to customers.

Understanding the Production-Delivery Gap

According to Gary Black, the Managing Partner at Future Fund, the variation between Rivian's production and delivery count can largely be attributed to an increase in the production of delivery vans, primarily meant for Amazon. Rivian stepped up its efforts to build more electric delivery vans (EDVs) which affected the number of R1 vehicles delivered.

As a significant investor in Rivian as well as being its largest EDV customer, Amazon placed a substantial order of 100,000 vans from Rivian back in 2019. However, due to logistical strategies around the busy holiday season, Amazon anticipated accepting fewer van deliveries in the fourth quarter compared to previous times, as revealed by Rivian's CFO Claire McDonough during the Q3 earnings call.

It was observed through a drone-captured video in mid-December that Rivian's Normal, Illinois manufacturing site had its parking space filled with newly produced delivery vans awaiting dispatch. The saturation of Amazon's delivery network during peak periods seemingly led to this surplus of undelivered EDVs.

Rivian and the EV Truck Market

Black also highlighted the broader market dynamics of electric trucks, suggesting that heightened interest in models like Tesla's impending Cybertruck could inadvertently benefit Rivian. He proposed that the electric vehicle truck sector is on an uptrend and that Rivian could capture some of the demand driven by the hype around competitors' offerings.

The appeal of the Cybertruck, coupled with its long waiting period, might encourage customers to opt for Rivian's models, which are currently the closest alternative in the electric truck market segment.

Rivian, Amazon, EV