Sources informed of the decision said that electric truck manufacturer Rivian Automotive will announce on Thursday that it will build a $5 billion battery and assembly plant east of Atlanta, which is expected to employ 7,500 workers.
Atlanta-A source familiar with the decision told the Associated Press that electric car manufacturer Rivian Automotive will announce on Thursday that it will build a $5 billion battery and assembly plant east of Atlanta and is expected to employ 7,500 workers .
Rivian, headquartered in Irvine, California, is a start-up manufacturer of electric trucks and commercial vans, challenging established automakers such as Ford and General Motors and electric vehicle leader Tesla.
According to sources, the plant may increase to as many as 10,000 workers, which will make it one of the largest auto assembly plants in the United States. Wait for the giants to contend. . A factory with 8,600 workers in Louisville, Kentucky.
Rivian will become the largest industrial announcement in Georgia's history, surpassing the Kia complex with 4,400 workers opened at West Point Military Academy in 2009. Georgia has repeatedly recruited failed auto factories. Rivian will provide Georgia Governor Brian Kemp with another point to support his claim that he has always been an excellent steward of Georgia’s economy, even if he faces Republican and Democratic opposition when he runs for re-election next year. Challenger.
Fort Worth, Texas, provided Rivian with a $440 million incentive program to attract the plant in the summer, and the published report indicated that Rivian is also considering building plants in Arizona and Michigan.
Rivian told Fort Worth that its factory will produce 200,000 cars a year, and the workers will earn at least $56,000 a year.
Atlanta Constitution Magazine was the first to report on Rivian's decision.
Founder and CEO Robert Scarinch told Bloomberg TV in November that the ability to hire good employees is the most important factor in the decision. Like most auto factories opened in recent decades, Rivian's existing factory in Normal, Illinois, has not joined a union.
Georgia officials are unlikely to elaborate on the full incentive package provided to Rivian on Thursday, but the company can maximize Georgia’s so-called "large project tax credit", which applies to employing at least 1,800 people or investing at least $450 million company of. This may be worth $118 million in state income tax credits. Local governments may reduce or exempt property taxes.
Kia's plant in southwest Atlanta received more than $450 million in awards. The State of Georgia has pledged to provide $300 million in rewards to SK Innovation's $2.6 billion battery plant with 2,600 workers in Commerce, Georgia, northeast Atlanta.
Like Tesla, Rivian deals directly with customers rather than through dealers. Its entry into Georgia may prompt the state to relax a law that mainly prohibits direct sales by manufacturers.
Rivian currently plans to launch two models for consumers-the R1T pickup with a base price of $67,500 and the R1S SUV with a base price of $70,000. This truck was recently named Motor Trend’s 2022 Truck of the Year.
Amazon, which owns a portion of the company, has ordered 100,000 delivery vehicles, pushing Rivian into the commercial vehicle business.
After issuing $11.9 billion in stock on November 10, Rivian was cash-rich, and the company went public to fund its new factory. Its market value is close to 95 billion U.S. dollars, surpassing General Motors or Ford.
The company argues that the adoption of electric vehicles is at a "turning point" and it is well prepared for success because trucks and SUVs have long been the most profitable cars. But some analysts questioned whether it needs another factory in addition to the former Mitsubishi, Illinois plant that Rivian bought for $16 million in 2017. Rivian said it has an annual production capacity of 150,000 cars, but it also hopes to expand there.
Sam Abuelsamid, chief mobile analyst at Guidehouse Insights, said: “It seems too early to invest so much in another large factory,” he said, saying that Rivian may also be looking for a manufacturing base in Europe.
Given the size of the Georgia plant, Abuelsamid expects it will make other parts for the car, similar to the electric car leader Tesla's factory in Fremont, California, which makes seats.
Abuelsamid said Rivian has cash in the bank, but unless it starts delivering vehicles and generating cash, it will quickly run out, jeopardizing its position as a market darling. He said that in addition to Amazon, the company also needs more retail customers and commercial vehicle buyers.
"If the actual delivery volume does not start to pick up, the market may oppose them, just like some other electric car startups that are not called Tesla," Abu Samid said. "The difference with Tesla is that Rivian will face fierce competition in a shorter period of time compared with Tesla's lead in the past ten years."
Ford and General Motors plan to start selling their own electric pickup trucks in the next year or two, and Tesla also plans to launch a new pickup truck. This is part of the wave of investment in electric vehicles. SK's $5 billion battery plant in northeastern Atlanta is just one example. Ford announced in September that it would spend $11.4 billion to build three battery plants and one assembly plant in Kentucky and Tennessee.
The LMC Automotive consulting firm predicts that the sales of new all-electric vehicles in the United States will reach nearly 400,000 units this year, almost twice the number of last year. But they still only account for about 2.6% of sales. The company expects its sales to grow to more than 730,000 next year and more than 2 million by 2025. Even if it reaches 2 million, the sales of electric vehicles still account for only about 12% of new car sales in the United States.
Associated Press automotive writer Tom Krisher from Detroit contributed to this report.
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