Rivian EDV (Amazon Delivery Van) Production Suspended Due to Parts Shortage

[Riviot]

Apparently parts shortages are still a thing.

https://www.reuters.com/business/au...delivery-vans-amid-parts-shortage-2024-08-16/

EV maker Rivian halts production of Amazon delivery vans amid parts shortage

August 16, 2024

Aug 16 (Reuters) - Rivian (RIVN.O), opens new tab has temporarily suspended production of its commercial delivery vans used by retail giant Amazon.com (AMZN.O), opens new tab due to a shortage of parts, a spokesperson for the electric vehicle manufacturer said on Friday.

Shares of the Irvine, California-based company were down 1.7% in premarket trading.

The production halt is the latest in a series of supply chain challenges for Rivian, which, like other EV makers, has grappled with significant production issues over the past two years due to supplier shortages.

Amazon, Rivian's largest investor with a 16% stake, has ordered 100,000 electric delivery vans to be deployed by 2030. Last year, sales to Amazon represented approximately 19% of Rivian's revenue.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
"A part shortage has temporarily impacted our Electric Delivery Van (EDV) production. We expect to recover all missed production," the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

The company did not disclose any information about the specific part and supplier in question, and also declined to comment on when the production stoppage began and if it has resumed.

The part shortage would not affect the production of other Rivian vehicles, including its R1S SUV and R1T pickup models.

Earlier this month, Rivian had maintained its production forecast and said that deliveries would be slightly lower in the current quarter after it shut down its factory in April for retooling and modifications.

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[Newtonrj]

When driving by Normal last night, there were significant numbers of EDVs sitting on the lot. Not as many as June when the main lot and a annex lot nearby full-up with Gen1s awaiting parts but at least a hundred EDVs both AMZN and white-box versions.

 

[Acoustic71]

No problem. Just order the parts from Amazon!

I'll show myself out......

 

[Funhiker2022]

Hope they ramp up and start selling these to the public so I can have a Rivian camper conversion.

 

[SANZC02]

Seems like a minor deal, they can build far more on the line than they are currently delivering so the actual impact to financials should be small. Especially since they said in the announcement they expect to recover all of the missed production.

 

[R1Thor]

I don't know that they *need* to make more of these vans near-term. There are dozens of them parked in the Manheim Auto Auction lot near me (potentially upwards of 100, but it's behind a berm, so I can't see/count all of them) going nowhere.

Amazon isn't even adopting them as quickly as they've been making them, and I've seen zero around me. I think they (Amazon) need to catch up with their warehouse infrastructure (charging) before the demand is really there.

 

[RivianRunner]

I don't know that they *need* to make more of these vans near-term. There are dozens of them parked in the Manheim Auto Auction lot near me (potentially upwards of 100, but it's behind a berm, so I can't see/count all of them) going nowhere.

Amazon isn't even adopting them as quickly as they've been making them, and I've seen zero around me. I think they (Amazon) need to catch up with their warehouse infrastructure (charging) before the demand is really there.

I wonder how the contract Rivian has with Amazon is structured. I would think Amazon would be contractually obligated to purchase the vans that meet a certain spec at a determined price as they come off the line, as long as they are not coming off the line faster than contractually agreed to.

Does anyone have any insight on the contract, or can anyone point to specific SEC filings that give us a clue as to how the contract is structured?

 

[Riviot]

I don't know that they *need* to make more of these vans near-term. There are dozens of them parked in the Manheim Auto Auction lot near me (potentially upwards of 100, but it's behind a berm, so I can't see/count all of them) going nowhere.

Which auction house? I suspect they aren't being sold openly, no sale history is coming up for 2022-2024.

 

[Riviot]

There are dozens of them parked in the Manheim Auto Auction lot near me (potentially upwards of 100, but it's behind a berm, so I can't see/count all of them) going nowhere.

Follow up, I can't find any listed for sale either. But I did find this $155k Buy-it-Now abomination:

 

[Dark-Fx]

I don't know that they *need* to make more of these vans near-term. There are dozens of them parked in the Manheim Auto Auction lot near me (potentially upwards of 100, but it's behind a berm, so I can't see/count all of them) going nowhere.

Amazon isn't even adopting them as quickly as they've been making them, and I've seen zero around me. I think they (Amazon) need to catch up with their warehouse infrastructure (charging) before the demand is really there.

I see Rivian vans almost every day in my sub. Some of them with missing panels from collisions. Amazon's structure here is kind of weird. Majority of the vans are actually owned by third party DSPs. No idea if Amazon has any kind of a requirement here for vans or if it ends up being a personal choice of those running the DSP.

Could be really interesting to have first hand knowledge of how that all works.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Follow up, I can't find any listed for sale either. But I did find this $155k Buy-it-Now abomination:

Still better than a Cybertruck

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

RJ can’t manage a larger company. I’m sticking to my belief over the last year that, until he is pushed out, Rivian will have managerial and long term planning problems.

 

[Killer95Stang]

Not sure how it works exactly, but I do know that Amazon uses a lot of contractors for deliveries in my area of Socal. These companies aren't required to purchase or use the EDV's like corporate Amazon employees do, so we get a hodge podge of Amazon logo'd vehicles and personl vehicles.

I did get a chance to ride in one a couple days ago... and too be honest, they are very cool. Very smooth, simple to operate with very minimal controls. Makes it very easy for drivers to get adapted to EV use. Not to mention, the 3D view is probably super helpful when manuvering such a large vehicle into tight areas.

 

[Mark_AZR1T]

Hope they ramp up and start selling these to the public so I can have a Rivian camper conversion.

We've sold two sets of our jack pucks to van-life people, who picked up EDV's at auctions for light damage. Both got them up and running. They don't get any tech support yet though and are stuck on the current version of software they have.

 

[R1Thor]

Which auction house? I suspect they aren't being sold openly, no sale history is coming up for 2022-2024.

TO BE CLEAR: I don't think they're for sale--they're just being stored there. I don't know if they act as a 3rd party to allocate/hold vehicles until they're ready to be delivered. I'm not 100% sure how they work. And I'm VERY curious.

FWIW: It's the Manheim Auto Auction in Manheim, PA

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