Rivian To Build $120M Supplier Park In Illinois: Retail’s Unmoved Ahead Of Earnings

Shares of EV maker Rivian Automotive (RIVN) slid 1% in premarket trading on Tuesday as investors awaited the company’s quarterly earnings and digested the announcement that the firm is investing nearly $120 million to construct a 1.2 million square foot supplier park near its manufacturing plant in Normal, Illinois.

Rivian said it expects key suppliers to locate in the park, reducing shipping, logistics, and warehousing costs.

The company said that construction is underway and expected to be completed by 2026. In the next two years, the supplier park is expected to add several hundred supplier jobs and nearly 100 direct Rivian jobs.

CEO RJ Scaringe said that the supplier park will enable the company to increase production at its Illinois plant in 2026 when it starts producing its lower-priced R2 SUV. Rivian’s Illinois plant currently manufactures the company’s R1T truck, R1S SUV, and commercial vans.

The company said a subset of Rivian’s suppliers are expected to perform light assembly and manufacturing on-site at the supplier park. Rivian employees at the park will kit and sequence the parts and then move them to the main plant through an underground tunnel between the two buildings.

Rivian added that in addition to the supplier park, construction is underway for the 1.1 million square foot plant expansion necessary for R2 manufacturing.

While Rivian initially planned to build its R2 at its upcoming plant in Georgia, it halted construction there last year and decided to start building R2 at Normal, Illinois, to conserve cash.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Rivian remained unmoved within the ‘bullish’ territory over the past 24 hours while message volume remained at ‘high’ levels.

Rivian is now slated to report its first-quarter earnings after the bell on Tuesday.

The stock is up by about 2% this year and 31% over the past 12 months.

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