By WMBD-TV
NORMAL – Rivian Senior Corporate Communications Sr. Manager Kelli Felker has confirmed with WMBD that Rivian R1 manufacturing will move to two shifts beginning in late April at the plant in Normal.
The change is to align better with production goals. During last year’s earnings call, the company planned to assemble 57,000 vehicles in 2024, the same number as last year.
Due to efficiency improvements, that goal can be met in only two shifts.
“The shift change will begin when we return from the April shutdown, during which we will transform our R1 production to integrate new engineering design changes that we expect will significantly reduce our cost. All hourly employees will be offered a job on one of the two available shifts as we will increase capacity per shift,” said Felker in a statement.
The shift changes will begin on April 28.