The electric vehicle revolution that Joe Biden promised is beginning to fizzle out.
Now one of the shining stars in the industry is on the brink.
And this electric vehicle darling gave Joe Biden a bad update that left him feeling sick.
Electric vehicle company announces more layoffs
Electric vehicle maker Rivian was considered one of the promising upstart companies in the industry.
It carved out a niche focusing on crossovers and a truck promising a spirit of outdoor adventure.
Rivian achieved fabled unicorn status by becoming worth more than one billion dollars as a privately held company.
The California-based automaker landed on the 2022 version of the TIME 100 Most Influential Companies list and was a Wall Street favorite when it went public in 2021.
Now after being mentioned as the next Tesla, the electric vehicle maker is in crisis mode.
Rivian announced that it was laying off one percent of its workforce after electric vehicle sales were lower than expected.
In February, the automaker announced that it was laying off 10% of its workforce after its 2024 production forecast came in below analysts’ estimates.
The company tried to put on a brave face after the tough news in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“We continue to work to right-size the business and ensure alignment to our priorities,” Rivian said. “As a follow-up to some of the changes we made to teams in February, today we shared some additional changes to groups supporting the business. Around 1% of our workforce was affected by this change. This was a difficult decision, but a necessary one to support our goal to be gross margin positive by the end of the year.”
Rivian has been trying to cut costs to stay afloat as the losses pile up on its electric vehicles.
Last year, the company was losing more than $33,000 on every vehicle it sold.
The automaker let go 6% of its workforce in July 2023 after laying off 6% in July 2022.
Shares of Rivian’s stock have plummeted from $128 in November 2021 to less than $10.
Weak consumer demand for electric vehicles despite generous government tax credits has the industry reeling.
Electric vehicle makers make serious cutbacks
Tesla has been the leader for electric vehicles but even they haven’t been able to escape the turmoil facing the industry.
They announced that they were laying 10% of their global workforce off after slumping sales.
“As we prepare the company for our next phase of growth, it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in the memo. “As part of this effort, we have done a thorough review of the organization and made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount by more than 10% globally.”
President Joe Biden has been trying to force drivers into electric vehicles but the demand isn’t there because of the numerous problems associated with owning them.
Now a storm is brewing for the electric vehicle industry as sales continue to slump.
