Rivian raises 2026 delivery forecast after strong demand in the second quarter

Electric car makers Rivian Cars and Lucid Collection Second-quarter delivery results were announced on Thursday with mixed results.

Rivian raised its 2026 delivery guidance range after seeing stronger-than-expected demand for its electric vehicles during the second quarter, while Lucid missed Wall Street expectations and its new CEO Silvio Napoli announced a change in the company’s leadership team.

Rivian said it now expects to deliver between 65,000 and 70,000 vehicles this year, up from a previous forecast of between 62,000 and 67,000 units.

Rivian stock rose nearly 6% in early trading Thursday.

Rivian also said Thursday that it produced 12,613 vehicles and delivered 12,194 units during the second quarter. The second-quarter deliveries are higher than the FactSet analyst consensus of 110,000 units and the company’s previous forecast, which called for deliveries of between 9,000 and 11,000 electric vehicles.

Rivian, which will report its second-quarter financial results on July 30, said higher delivery rates during the second quarter were driven by its electric delivery van and its flagship R1 products.

The company also began deliveries of the mid-size R2 SUV during the quarter. It is ramping up production of that vehicle at its sole production plant in Normal, Illinois, which has the capacity to produce 160,000 vehicles per year.

Lucid reported production of 4,774 vehicles and deliveries of 3,953 vehicles during the second quarter. Deliveries were below Wall Street expectations of 5,000 units, according to FactSet.

Alongside the handovers, the company announced a new leadership team under Napoli, who began overseeing the company in June. Lucid said the new format aims to “simplify the company’s structure” and cut the number of direct reports to the CEO in half.

It is worth noting that Taoufik Boussaid, Lucid’s CFO, will leave the company after handing over to his successor, Alexander De Bock, who most recently served as CFO of automotive supplier TI Automotive.

“We are working to streamline the organization, strengthen leadership, enforce accountability, and align our structure with the priorities that matter most: customers, quality, and innovation,” Napoli said in a statement.

EV leader TeslaMeanwhile, it announced deliveries of 480,126 vehicles for the second quarter, exceeding expectations. The company does not specify exact delivery numbers by region or individual model, but said the entry-level Model 3 sedan and the most popular Model Y SUV reached 467,762 units.

– CNBC Laura Kolodny She contributed to this report.