11:47 am, January 3, 2024
EV manufacturer Rivian narrowly missed sales estimates for the last three months of 2023.
The American firm, which has Amazon as its largest shareholder with 18.1% of its stock, shifted 13,972 vehicles. That was a tenth lower than it managed for the third quarter and was below analysts’ estimates of 14,430.
The news sent Rivian’s share price on the Nasdaq tumbling by 10% yesterday to $21.10 (circa £16.72) on the first stock market trading day of 2024.
It blamed high interest rates and fierce competition for hitting demand for its cars, reported Reuters.
The higher rates have translated into increased monthly payments for EVs, which has made them less attractive and led to Tesla starting a price war.
However, Rivian is still regarded as a better bet among the EV start-ups that also include Fisker and Lucid.
Reuters quoted Rivian investor and electric and autonomous mobility expert Vitaly Golomb as saying: ‘It’s likely that holiday schedules slowed down deliveries vs production.’
Amazon, which is also a big customer of Rivian, focuses on the holiday season during the fourth quarter rather than taking deliveries of Rivian’s vehicles.
Rivian manufactured 17,541 cars in Q4, which was 7.5% up on Q3 and resulted in an annual manufacturing total of 57,232 units, which comfortably beat its prediction of 54,000.
The news came as BYD announced it had overtaken Tesla in the EV sales stakes for the last quarter of 2023.
