Rivian (RIVN) just had its best sales quarter ever, and it came in the first full quarter of sales for the R2, the smaller SUV it started delivering in June. If you've been waiting for a cheaper Rivian, though, you're still waiting, and the company's next earnings report is when it has to say how much longer.
Rivian delivered 19,248 vehicles and built 19,751 from July through September. A year earlier it delivered 13,201 and built 10,720, so deliveries rose about 46%. Every one of those vehicles came out of the plant in Normal, Illinois. Rivian didn't say how many were R2s, but TechCrunch says the R2 helped set the record, and Electrek points to the R2 ramp as deliveries jumped 58% from the second quarter.
That big loss is last quarter's
A 24/7 Wall St. piece that's getting passed around this week says Rivian lost $833 million in the third quarter. That number is real, but it's from the quarter before. We checked Rivian's July filing, and it shows that exact net loss for April through June. The actual third-quarter results come out after the market closes on October 29.
That July report also had a bright spot that got less attention. Rivian made a gross profit of $179 million, meaning that overall it sold its vehicles for more than they cost to build, even while it was paying to get R2 production going. A year earlier it had a gross loss of $206 million.
The cheaper R2 is still a promise
For now, the only R2 you can buy is the top Performance trim, and it starts just under $60,000. A version around $45,000 is planned, but TechCrunch says Rivian gave no timeframe for it, and neither Rivian filing we read gives a date. Electrek reports that a Premium version is due in late 2026.
The wait is harder now than it would have been a year ago. The federal EV tax credit isn't available for vehicles acquired after September 30, 2025, and Electrek reports that EVs make up a smaller share of US car sales this year than they did at their peak.
Rivian is sticking with its forecast of 65,000 to 70,000 deliveries this year. It has delivered 41,807 vehicles so far, according to Electrek's tally of Rivian's quarterly reports, so it needs 23,193 to 28,193 in the final three months. Even the low end would beat this record quarter by nearly 4,000 vehicles.
When results come out on October 29, watch for two things: an R2 delivery count and firm dates for the cheaper trims.
Sources
- 1.Rivian Q3 2026 production and deliveries (Form 8-K exhibit) · Rivian Automotive via SEC EDGAR
- 2.Rivian's R2 just helped it set a new sales record · TechCrunch
- 3.Rivian Turnaround Falls Apart · 24/7 Wall St.
- 4.Rivian Q2 2026 financial results (Form 8-K exhibit) · Rivian Automotive via SEC EDGAR
- 5.Rivian continues to ramp with R2 even as EV market growth slows · Electrek
- 6.Rivian Q3 2025 production and deliveries (Form 8-K exhibit) · Rivian Automotive via SEC EDGAR
- 7.Clean vehicle tax credits · Internal Revenue Service
Reported by the WattsUpNext desk from the sources linked below. Spot an error? Tell us at corrections@wattsupnext.com.
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