Rivian's CEO Suggests Lincoln May Manufacture a Full-Size Electric SUV

Rivian’s CEO Suggests Lincoln May Manufacture a Full-Size Electric SUV

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Just days before Thanksgiving, reports surfaced indicating that Rivian, an electric vehicle manufacturer, could potentially produce an SUV for Lincoln instead of Ford. Considering Ford’s significant investment in Rivian and the plans revealed by both companies to collaborate on the development of electric trucks and SUVs, this speculation seemed quite plausible. During an interview released on Thursday, Rivian’s CEO RJ Scaringe provided further validation to this rumor.

Scaringe affirmed to Motortrend that the initial outcome of Ford and Rivian’s partnership across Lake Michigan would be a luxury SUV, whose development has already been finalized.

“While it differs significantly from our existing SUV, it still falls within the SUV category,” noted Scaringe, distinguishing between Rivian’s R1S and the upcoming model. The CEO vaguely implied that this vehicle would be “a remarkable product, to say the least.”

Initial reports about this SUV indicated that it would be positioned in the full-size SUV segment, similar in size to the current Navigator. Allegedly, the market launch of this model is scheduled for mid-2022, around one and a half years after Rivian launches the R1S. Despite sharing a common “skateboard” architecture across all Rivian vehicles, from the off-road R1T pickup to the Prime-branded vans commissioned by Amazon, the R1S and potential Lincoln E-SUV are not expected to directly compete for sales. Rivian’s target audience leans toward outdoor enthusiasts, while Lincoln’s clientele is more urban.

All Rivian vehicles will be manufactured at the company’s facility in Normal, Illinois, previously the site where the Mitsubishi Eclipse was produced. The first R1Ts from Rivian are expected to start production this December, followed by the initial R1Ss in February of the following year. Subsequently, Rivian will commence production of Ford’s and Amazon’s vehicles, with the latter anticipated to contribute 100,000 units to the plant’s annual capacity of 264,000 vehicles by 2024.

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