Rivian cuts hundreds of jobs amid R2 SUV rollout

Rivian laid off hundreds of employees on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, targeting teams in service and customer operations. The cuts represent less than 2% of the electric vehicle maker's workforce of just over 15,000 employees across North America and Europe. The announcement comes one week after the company officially began deliveries of its new, more affordable R2 SUV, a vehicle central to its strategy for achieving profitability.

The company stated the restructuring of a handful of teams was part of its effort to profitably scale the business. This language echoes a similar statement from October 2025, when Rivian laid off more than 600 workers, or about 4.5% of its workforce at the time, affecting marketing, vehicle operations, and sales teams. Combined with a smaller round of approximately 140 manufacturing job cuts in June 2025, the company has eliminated more than 740 positions over the past year.

Rivian has never turned an annual profit. It reported a net loss of $3.63 billion in 2025 while delivering 42,247 vehicles, an 18% decline from the prior year. The financial pressure has continued into 2026; the company's automotive segment lost approximately $6,000 for every vehicle...