Rivian officials have just made a public announcement, which is more like a public bomb about the discontinuation of its cheapest electric vehicle truck.

The company has announced that it has discontinued the production of the R1S SUV and R1T pickup truck’s Explore Package.

This is a clear confirmation that it will not be manufacturing the cheapest electric pickup truck that it had been manufacturing in the past.

Rivian Official Discontinuation Announcement

Rivian officials made the official announcement through their website apologizing to the consumers for the concerning news.

The company mentioned it realizes it will be making many customers unhappy but they have decided to discontinue the production of the cheapest pickup truck.

Rivian officials apologized for the sudden continuation of the pickup truck. They also said that they are aware that the planning of many customers would have been impacted by their announcement.

Reason Explained for Discontinuation

Rivian officials revealed that they did not see much demand coming in from the customers’ end for the entry-level Explore vehicle.

The EV maker had launched its vehicles with two configurations where the first was Explore and the other was Adventure.

The majority of the customers always went with the Adventure configuration, showing very small interest in the other one.

Explore and Adventure Benefits

If the customers went with the Explore option, they were saving at least $5,500. As for the Adventure option, the customers are getting security cables, Gear Guard remote monitoring system, and a premium interior.

For the Adventure option, the start price of the vehicle is $73,000.

Streamlined Supply Chain

Rivian announced that just like any other electric vehicle manufacturing company, they are also facing supply chain issues. This is causing a hindrance in the manufacturing of their vehicles, not allowing them to deliver vehicles on time.

Therefore, they have decided to discontinue the vehicle that has a low demand so they can focus on the Adventure option. By dedicating their entire workforce and labor to the Adventure option, their manufacturing and delivery will be expedited tremendously.

Backlog and Rumors

Rivian has recently announced that they are currently dealing with a massive backlog, which is around 100,000.

While the backlog is constantly rising, Rivian seems to be faced with one major problem. There are rumors that Rivian has recently laid off a significant percentage of its employees.

According to sources, the employees laid off by Rivian amount to 6% of the total workforce. This means that the company may be finding it difficult to operate and may be facing financial problems.

Many market analysts have speculated that it might be due to the rising commodity prices, high-interest rates, and inflation rise forcing the company to make such calls.

Rivian had recently announced a price hike in its vehicles but a strong backlash from customers forced it to revert.

Rivian’s share price was set at $100 when it made its public debut 9 months back. At the time of writing, Rivian’s share is worth $34.45, down 65.55% from its highest stock trading price.

The announcement has witnessed a 4.04% fall in its stock prices in the latest trading session.