Rivian’s SUV production is outpacing pickup truck volume

McDonough said the SUV accounts for about 70 percent of Rivian’s pre-orders and that the increased output stems, in part, from its work around to the semiconductor shortage. The company has been able to ease that supply chain bottleneck by developing a two-motor powertrain in-house known as Enduro, she said, which is supplementing a four-motor design made by Robert Bosch GMBH that has faced lingering backlogs.

“The Enduro ramp continues to be slightly ahead of plan,” the CFO said, adding that Rivian has just begun output of two-motor SUVs in recent weeks.

The R1S is one of a handful of three-row battery-powered SUVs currently on the market in the U.S., including Tesla Inc.’s Model X and Model Y. But legacy automaking giants Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. all have announced plans to enter the segment.

Shares of Rivian were up about 4.3 percent in early trading in New York on Friday at $15.89. The stock is down about 17 percent this year.