Rivian Automotive Inc. (Nasdaq: RIVN) continues to adjust its operations, workforce, and overall strategy on the fly, in keeping with a startup, albeit one with a market cap near $13.5 billion, fourth largest among Orange County public companies.
In the latest corporate maneuvers for the closely watched EV maker, the firm has made plans to relocate a large part of its manufacturing engineering team to either its Normal, Ill. factory or the Irvine headquarters, according to a report late last month in the Wall Street Journal.
The centralization plans looks likely to affect workers at the company’s locations in places like Michigan, Texas and Virginia, as well as remote employees.
Rivian’s Irvine base, which counts some 2,400 area workers and which saw plans for nearly 240 layoffs disclosed in state filings about a month ago, doesn’t appear likely to take a hit in its local base as a result of the latest moves, according to reports.
Rivian had a little over 14,000 workers companywide around the start of the year. Chief Executive RJ Scaringe told employees in February of plans to cut 6% of its workforce.
The moves are the latest by the company to boost its pace of manufacturing to keep up with demand for its electric-powered trucks, SUVs and delivery vans.
The company missed its production target for 2022, falling around 700 vehicles short of its 25,000 goal. It said it’s aiming for 50,000 vehicles this year.
Mazda North American
Taps New CEO, President
Mazda North American Operations has appointed Tom Donnelly, its current senior vice president of retail operations, as the Irvine automaker’s new chief executive and president.
Donnelly’s promotion was effective April 1. He replaced former executive Jeff Guyton, who left to join parent company Mazda Motor Corp. in Hiroshima, Japan as chief financial officer. Guyton will also oversee the U.S. operations as a representative director.
Donnelly joined Mazda in 2008, following roles with J.D. Powers and Subaru of America.
The Irvine headquarters is the base of Mazda’s operations in the region, which includes approximately 795 dealers across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Colombia markets.
“[Donnelly] has greatly progressed the Mazda brand in the U.S. while also improving the overall business operations and relationships with our dealer network,” Guyton said in a statement. He first joined the automaker back in 2000.
“The North American markets are crucial to Mazda’s global success, and we have made significant investments to grow our business in the region,” said Masahiro Moro, who was also recently promoted to CEO of the Mazda corporation.
As of February, the automaker reported year-to-date sales of 53,606 vehicles, up 8.9% year-over-year.
