Rivian’s sales pop as the company’s big R2 bet starts to pay off

is transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State.

Rivian had high hopes for its more affordable R2 vehicle — and so far, those hopes appear to be paying off.

The company released its third-quarter production and delivery numbers today, reporting 19,751 vehicles produced and 19,248 delivered. That represents an 85 percent year-over-year increase in production and a 45 percent jump in deliveries. (For a direct-to-consumer automaker like Rivian, deliveries serve as a proxy for sales.) The company also reaffirmed its full-year 2026 guidance, expecting to deliver 65,000 to 70,000 vehicles.

Rivian’s sales surge is a rare bright spot in a struggling industry. A year after President Trump and Republicans in Congress eliminated the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, broader EV sales have predictably plunged. According to Cox Automotive, as of September 2026, overall EV sales were down nearly 24 percent year-over-year. Tesla just reported a 2.1 percent decrease in Q3 sales (though that was better than expected).

Rivian has been telling investors it will sell upwards of 25,000 R2s in its first year of production, which would make it one of the fastest launches of a new electric vehicle in US history. The R2 needed to be a hit for Rivian to survive as an independent company. As Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe told us earlier this year: “R2 is the most important thing we have because it’s what takes us from being subscale to being a scaled manufacturer.”

While Rivian doesn’t break down sales by model, the company expects full-year deliveries for both its R1 lineup—the R1T truck and R1S SUV—and its electric delivery van to remain flat. Last year, Rivian delivered over 13,000 vehicles in the third quarter. Assuming R1 and van deliveries held steady, that leaves approximately 6,000 R2 vehicles delivered to customers this quarter.

The sales report comes amid a string of good news for Rivian. The company recently announced that the R2 hit its climate goal of reducing its lifetime emissions by 50 percent four years ahead of schedule.

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