If you think Tesla’s Q1 is bad for Rivian situation.

If you think Tesla is having a tough start to this year, Rivian’s first quarter could have you reevaluate what “rough” really means. EV startups produced 14,611 R1 and R1T models in their normal Illinois facilities in the first three months of 2025, offering only 8,640. That was a 36% drop compared to the same period last year, when it managed to put 13,588 cars into customers.

More: Dodge sells more old challengers and chargers than new Daytona electric cars in the first quarter

By comparison, Tesla reported delivery in Q1 fell 13% year-on-year to 336,000 units, the softest quarter in nearly three years. The company is still browsing a range of distractions, including global protests with its high-profile, often polarized CEO and ongoing delays in the “juniper” model Y “juniper” launched in North America.

Rivian’s figures, although frustrating, were not caught off guard. The company has already expected about 14,000 cars to be built in the quarter, with analysts more or less on the same page.

From a little perspective, GM has moved 7,111 electric trucks across its various sub-brands. These include 2,383 Silverado EVS (a 125% jump from Q1 2024), plus 1,249 GMC Sierra EVS and 3,479 Hummer EVS, separate between the SUV and Pickup models. Ford’s F-150 Chargers delivered slightly better with 7,187 deliveries, although that figure fell 7% from the same period last year.

Despite the sluggish sales, Rivian had at least one encouraging title in the first quarter: R1 entered the best-selling EV in the United States in February.

Rivian’s expectations for the next step

Looking ahead, Rivian still hopes to deliver between 46,000 and 51,000 vehicles in 2025, which will be slightly lower than the 51,579 delivered last year. Financially speaking, the company expects adjusted losses of $170 million to $1.9 million in 2025, which will mark an improvement in its $2.69 billion loss last year.

The market response was not very good. Levian shares fell about 4% after earnings were released, falling to $12.74. As of publication, the stock has fallen 4.11% so far.

On the production side, Rivian is in the process of upgrading its Illinois plant in preparation for the upcoming mid-size R2 SUV, expected to arrive in the first half of 2026. That’ll be followed by the smaller, more affordable R3 sometimes in 2027. The hope is that these next-generation models will push Rivian closer to profitability or at least make future earnings reports a little less grim.