Slowly but surely, Rivian is solidifying its position in the market, with vehicle production growing modestly but consistently. As such, the company reached an important milestone in its history with the production this week – on April 3 to be exact - of its 100,000th vehicle at its Normal plant in Illinois.
The vehicle honoured as EV number 100,000? A white R1S SUV. Rivian did not provide further details on the SUV or its purchaser. Communications manager Kelli Felker announced the news, adding that "We are proud of our workforce, which has acquired the skills necessary to manufacture quality products for our customers."
Ironically, the Normal plant is scheduled to temporarily cease operations from today (April 5) until April 30. Rivian is modernizing equipment there to reduce the production costs of each vehicle, while increasing the production rate.
The changes Rivian plans to make to the production line are designed to increase efficiency and improve the production rate by 30 percent, the company stated in its update letter for the fourth quarter of 2023.
According to Rivian, 13,980 vehicles were produced at the Normal plant in the first quarter of 2024. This figure is in line with the company's target of assembling 57,000 vehicles there this year.
The plant delivered 13,588 vehicles in the first quarter of 2024.