Rivian ends the year with a significant drop in deliveries for the fourth quarter

The end of the federal tax credit in the United States of up to $7,500, originally intended to boost sales of electric vehicles, has caused a widespread drop in sales of this type of vehicle in this market during the second half of 2025, just as manufacturers and analysts had anticipated. This has affected all manufacturers in general, and Rivian has been no exception.

The California-based company published its annual results for 2025 last Friday, confirming deliveries of 42,247 vehicles over those twelve months, a decrease of 18 percent compared with the 51,579 units delivered to customers in 2024.

The drop in deliveries has been especially pronounced in the last quarter, with only 9,745 vehicles delivered, compared with 13,201 in the previous quarter. Some analysts believe this may be the result of many customers bringing forward their purchases to take advantage of the incentive before it expired at the end of September, leaving a noticeable gap in the following months.

The best is yet to come

During the presentation of these results, the CEO of Rivian, RJ Scaringe, nevertheless expressed great optimism about the company’s future. Last November, Scaringe already referred to the positive side of the removal of tax incentives for buying electric vehicles, saying that although it will be painful in the short term, in the longer term it could be positive for Rivian, since competition could decrease if some manufacturers decide to slow their investment in developing new electric models and bet on other powertrain systems such as plug-in hybrids.

Another factor that invites optimism for Rivian in 2026 will be the market launch of its new R2 SUV, more compact and affordable than the R1 currently on sale, and developed on a new platform. While the current R1T and R1S have a base price of around 80 thousand dollars, the R2 is promised to start at around 45,000 dollars. Although it is true that the most affordable versions will take some months to reach the market.

Rivian believes this new model should allow it to drastically increase its delivery figures quarter after quarter, especially since, at least in the United States, the options available in this price range are quite limited. The first R2 deliveries are scheduled for the first half of 2026, so until then the R1, in both its pickup and SUV variants, R1S and R1T, must continue to sustain the brand’s sales activity in an increasingly challenging environment and without any kind of tax incentive for buying.