Rivian's Deliveries Jump 58% as the R2 Ramps. Now Comes the Hard Part
Rivian handed over 19,248 vehicles in the R2's first full quarter on sale. To stay within its 65,000–70,000 forecast, it now needs roughly 23,200 to 28,200 more by year-end.
Rivian delivered 19,248 vehicles between July and September, 58% more than in the second quarter. It was also the first full quarter with the R2 midsize SUV on sale, and the start of a tougher test: to land inside its own 2026 forecast, Rivian now has to beat that number again by a wide margin.
Public R2 deliveries began on June 9, and so far only the $57,990 Performance with Launch Package can be ordered. Our look at the R2's latest colors and interior options covers what buyers can spec today.
The quarter in numbers
Rivian says it built 19,751 vehicles at its plant in Normal, Illinois, during the quarter. Deliveries were up 45.8% from the 13,201 it reported for the third quarter of 2025.
The company doesn't call the result a record. Still, it clears the 15,564 deliveries of Q3 2023, which Rivian described at the time as its best quarter yet.
According to Rivian's announcement, the result matched its internal outlook, and full-year guidance stays at 65,000 to 70,000 deliveries. Rivian lifted that range in July from 62,000 to 67,000 after second-quarter deliveries beat its own forecast of 9,000 to 11,000.
What the fourth quarter has to deliver
Add 10,365 deliveries in the first quarter and 12,194 in the second, and Rivian has handed over 41,807 vehicles this year. That is still 440 short of its full-year 2025 total of 42,247.
By our math, the low end of the guidance requires about 23,200 deliveries in the fourth quarter, and the high end about 28,200. That means growing another 21% to 46% over a quarter that already jumped 58%.
The factory offers a small cushion. Rivian has built 42,600 vehicles this year, nearly 800 more than it delivered, including 503 more in the third quarter alone.
What Rivian isn't saying
Rivian doesn't split deliveries by model, so there's no official count of how many of the 19,248 were R2s rather than R1T pickups, R1S SUVs, or electric delivery vans. Any R2 share you see is an estimate from outside trackers, not a company figure.
That gap matters. Rivian credited its second-quarter gain to growth in vans and the R1 as well as the first R2 handovers, so not every extra delivery since spring can be pinned on the new SUV.
Cheaper versions are coming, but slowly. Rivian's June delivery announcement lists an R2 Premium from $53,990 in late 2026, then R2 Standard from $48,490 in early 2027 and $44,990 in summer 2027. Only the Premium is scheduled early enough to count toward this year's target.
The ramp hasn't been glitch-free, either: the R2 was already included in Rivian's backup-camera recall, fixed over the air.
For scale, Tesla delivered 486,532 vehicles in the same quarter, down about 2% from a year earlier. Rivian is growing from a far smaller base, which is why each quarter's percentage looks dramatic.
What's next
Rivian reports third-quarter financial results after the market closes on October 29, with a webcast at 5 p.m. ET. Revenue, gross margin, and any update on R2 output will show what this delivery growth is costing, and how confident Rivian is about the fourth quarter.
