Rivian is laying off 10 percent of its salaried employees

Electric car maker Rivian announced on Wednesday that it is cutting 10 percent of its workforce to cut costs after it faced a quarterly loss. The Amazon-backed company reported that it lost $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023 and said it expects to build 57,000 electric vehicles in 2024, the same number it built last year.

“Our business faces a challenging macroeconomic environment — including historically high interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty — and we must make targeted changes now to ensure our promising future,” Rivian’s founder and CEO wrote to employees in an email. CNN reported. “We need to strategically prioritize our growth areas in the business, including the launch of Peregrine and R2, as well as investing in our go-to-market capabilities.”

As part of its cost-cutting plans, Rivian will close a factory in Illinois in the middle of this year and revamp its production line to increase production levels by 30 percent. The company is expected to unveil the R2, a compact SUV in the $40,000 to $60,000 range, on March 7, though deliveries of the car won’t begin until 2026.