Business
Rivian bets R2 EV can turn it into a household name like Tesla
Rivian CEO and founder RJ Scaringe (right) speaks with longtime employee and engineer Max Koff during a launch event on June 2, 2026 for the company’s R2 SUV in Park City, Utah.
Michael Wayland / CNBC
PARK CITY, Utah — Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe is energetic as he makes his way through displays for the electric vehicle maker’s new R2 SUV.
The company founder moves quickly from the EV’s suspension and software systems to different models of the R2 that will soon begin to reach American consumers, including a roughly $45,000 entry-level model that Rivian said Tuesday is being pulled ahead from late 2027 to next summer.
But there’s an anxiousness in Scaringe’s voice as he talks to employees and media at the R2 launch event in western Utah and prepares to release the vehicle, starting Tuesday, to the world.
Scaringe founded the EV maker in 2009. He has grown Rivian into a company with a $22 billion market cap that ranked highest in Consumer Reports’ most recent customer satisfaction survey, but lowest in predictive industry reliability due to consumer-reported problems with its early vehicles.
That’s unusual for an automotive brand. Typically, the more problems a brand has, the lower its customer satisfactions rank — but not Rivian.
It’s a testament to the brand Scaringe, a 43-year-old automotive enthusiast and tech entrepreneur, has built. That kind of customer satisfaction is also harder to maintain as a brand grows, which is Rivian’s goal with the R2.
The new SUV is meant to transform Rivian from a niche EV manufacturer that sells luxury vehicles — largely in California and states where electric vehicles sell well — to a more mainstream brand that can not only compete against U.S. EV leader Tesla but with broader mainstream automotive brands such as Jeep and Subaru.
“Its goal is for it to be a high-volume product,” Scaringe told CNBC. “Certainly, we’re going to draw on some Tesla customers, but the market of non-Tesla customers is many, many times larger.”
Wall Street analysts have described the R2 as Rivian’s make-or-break moment, comparable to Tesla moving from its pricey, first-generation EVs to the mainstream Model 3 and Model Y that currently dominate the U.S. market.
Scaringe doesn’t object to such a categorization.
“When you build a company from scratch, everything is make or break. There is no company if things don’t work,” he said. “Saying that it’s ‘make or break,’ it’s like, of course, it is.”
Rivian R2 will be cash-flow positive
Rivian is also hoping to achieve its main goal with the R2: profitability. The EV maker lost $3.6 billion last year, while only delivering 42,247 vehicles.
After promising investors it would be profitable on an adjusted basis by 2027, Rivian earlier this year withdrew that target without disclosing a new time frame to achieve the milestone. That comes as its automotive segment lost about $6,000 per vehicle it delivered during the first quarter of this year.
Scaringe reconfirmed to CNBC that Rivian now expects to accomplish the target once a multibillion-dollar plant in Georgia ramps up. It’s slated to begin production in late 2028 and could reach its full capacity by the end of this decade.
Exterior of Rivian’s new all-electric R2 SUV.
Michael Wayland / CNBC
Scaringe said Rivian will reach profitability on a per-unit production basis with the R2 this year. But he said the company needs more scale than the 160,000 units already planned for the vehicle at its current plant in Normal, Illinois, to achieve gross margin profitability.
“Georgia brings the volume to generate the gross margin for the vehicle sales that covers everything,” Scaringe said. “The good news is we start to really reduce our burn rate. That’s the beauty of volume, and these vehicles all being cash flow positive at a vehicle level.”
Once the Georgia plant is fully operational, the company’s production is expected to include the R1T pickup, R1 and R2 SUVs, R3 crossover, robotaxis and delivery vans. The company also has said it plans to offer additional vehicles based on the R2 platform.
Despite the R2 looking similar to its nearly $80,000 R1S SUV, Rivian said it has cut the vehicle’s build material costs in half, reduced production complexity and achieved other major efficiency gains.
Scaringe said every R2 model — with starting prices ranging from roughly $45,000 to $58,000 — will be cash-flow positive for the company: “This is a requirement. Every single vehicle is gross margin positive,” he said.
That positive cash flow includes its $45,000 entry-level model that the company moved up after facing online backlash for the timing.
Scaringe during a media roundtable said the change was made to address potential perception concerns about the R2 being a more expensive vehicle as well as a “desire to get it out there.”
“As much as the base trim gets a lot of attention, very few people actually end up buying it,” Scaringe said. “It doesn’t affect the economics of the business that much, but it generates so much noise.”
Tesla Model Y leads sales
Once full production of R2 is online, Scaringe said, the company expects the sweet spot for sales to be in the low $50,000s, which Cox Automotive reports would put it slightly above the U.S. average selling price of $49,000 and below the average EV selling price of more than $55,000.
That pricing and the vehicle’s size place it in the heart of the compact and mid-size SUV markets, which Cox Automotive reports accounted for 45% of U.S. sales last year.
Interior of Rivian’s new all-electric R2 SUV.
Michael Wayland / CNBC
For EVs especially, the Tesla Model Y dominates in the U.S. Cox Automotive estimates Tesla, which does not report sales by region, sold more than 357,500 Model Y units, or roughly 40% of the U.S. EV market, in 2025.
“I think it’ll do well. Rivian has a strong brand and there’s room for another compelling vehicle, especially in that midsize segment,” said Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive, which is an investor in Rivian. “It’s not just EV, they’re going to try to compete and pull from [internal combustion engine] vehicles as well.”
Rivian stock in 2026
Challenges for Rivian remain abundant, Valdez said. In addition to slower-than-expected EV adoption and lack of charging infrastructure, the company also needs to prove it can ramp up production quickly without quality issues.
Of the non-EVs in the segments, the Toyota Rav4 and Honda CR-V lead the compact SUV segment, while the larger Ford Explorer and Jeep Grand Cherokee lead midsize SUVs.
“We want people to look and just say … ‘it’s the best car in that price range,’ and by virtue of that, it’ll draw new customers, non-EV customers,” Scaringe said.
To do so, Scaringe believes, Rivian will also need to become a leader in software and in-vehicle technologies such as automated driving and artificial intelligence.
Rivian received outside validation for its emerging technology efforts in the form of a $5.8 billion deal with Volkswagen that includes putting Rivian’s software and electrical architecture in the German automaker’s future EVs.
Exterior of Rivian’s new all-electric R2 SUV.
Michael Wayland / CNBC
Volkswagen is now Rivian’s largest shareholder, followed by longtime backer Amazon, which remains its largest customer for delivery vehicles.
The R2 will launch with an advanced driver-assistance system, or ADAS, that will largely control itself under certain conditions with driver monitoring, but it will not have an AI voice assistant until later this year. Both systems will continue to be updated through over-the-air updates, according to Rivian.
Scaringe said he views the company’s emerging software services as being just as important as the vehicles.
“You need them both. It’s like asking is the heart or the brain more important in a human. You can’t survive without both,” Scaringe said. “It’s a false binary. I don’t see them as separate.”
Earnings call transcript: KIT posts resilient H1 2026 results as FFO rises 14%
The proposed changes involve extending single house planning exemptions and increasing the powers of the state’s planning commission.
One of the nation’s biggest former pastoralists, the Botha family, has put its signature Lake Jasper homestead on the market.
Fox News Sunday reveals the Democratic Socialists of Americas (DSA) platform, which includes eliminating the U.S. Senate and replacing the presidency. Co-chair confirms these radical proposals.
A Trump administration official is touting the recently launched Trump Accounts as a means to boost young Americans’ financial literacy and appreciation for capitalism by giving them experience that draws them away from “poisonous ideologies” such as socialism.
Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould spoke at a planning meeting for the Financial Literacy and Education Commission on Tuesday and said in remarks reviewed exclusively by FOX Business that Trump Accounts can help Americans understand how the financial system and markets work, showing the benefits of capitalism.
“When Americans understand how our financial system works, they are better equipped to save for the future, protect themselves from fraud, and fully participate in the greatest economy in the world,” he said. “For Americans to believe in capitalism, they need the opportunity to participate in it.”
Trump Accounts officially launched earlier this month. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“If financial illiteracy leads to socialism and other poisonous ideologies proliferating on college campuses and in certain cities, Trump Accounts can be the antidote, minting a generation of capitalists who believe in America, build wealth, invest in their communities, and own a share in our nation’s economic success,” Gould added.
WHAT ARE THE INVESTMENT OPTIONS FOR TRUMP ACCOUNTS?
Trump Accounts were created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year and were formally launched on July 4.
The initiative creates tax-advantaged investment savings accounts for eligible children, with those born between 2025 and 2028 given $1,000 in seed money from the federal government. Parents and guardians may contribute up to $5,000 per year to the accounts belonging to their children, while a parent’s employer can contribute up to $2,500 annually without impacting the employee’s taxable income.
Pedestrians walk past an American flag displayed outside of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., on Sept. 12, 2016. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Funds in Trump Accounts may be invested into low-cost index funds with broad, diversified exposure to the U.S. stock market.
Over time, proponents of Trump Accounts note that strategy could yield significant returns for Trump Account beneficiaries based on the historical performance of the U.S. stock market.
GOLDMAN SACHS TO CONTRIBUTE $1,000 TO TRUMP ACCOUNTS FOR ELIGIBLE CHILDREN OF EMPLOYEES
An analysis by the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) found that based on historical average returns on the U.S. stock market, funds invested in Trump Accounts could grow into a substantial nest egg by the time a child turns 18, depending on how much is contributed over time. The funds could then be used to help pay for education expenses, a down payment on a home, or a jump start on retirement savings.
CEA found that if maximum contributions are made to an account belonging to a child born in 2026, the account balance would reach $303,800 by age 18 and $1,091,900 by age 28 in a medium-returns scenario.
In a low-returns scenario with maximum contributions, balances would be $187,400 by age 18 and $772,200 by age 28; while in CEA’s high-returns illustration, the balances would be $730,400 by age 18 and $1,904,300 by age 28.
The White House released an app for Trump Accounts. (Trump Accounts / Fox News)
If no contributions are made to a Trump Account belonging to a child born in 2026 beyond the $1,000 seed money from the government, the account balance would reach $5,800 by the time they turn 18, with continued compounding growth taking that total to $18,100 by age 28 in CEA’s medium-returns scenario.
HERE’S HOW MUCH TRUMP ACCOUNT BALANCES COULD GROW OVER TIME
Ahead of the program’s official launch, the Treasury Department unveiled the default exchange-traded fund (ETF) that is available to investors now – as well as four other ETF options that will be added to the accounts as alternatives.
The default investment option is the State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF (SPYM), which is a low-cost ETF that tracks the performance of the S&P 500 Index.
Treasury explained it provides broad exposure to the U.S. stock market and has a low fee structure that’s well below the expense ratio limit of 0.1% that was established by law.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPYM | STATE STREET® SPDR® PORTFOLIO S&P 500® ETF – USD DIS | 86.99 | +0.03 | +0.03% |
| IVV | ISHARES CORE S&P 500 ETF – USD DIS | 742.55 | +0.19 | +0.03% |
| VTI | VANGUARD TOTAL STOCK MARKET ETF – USD DIS | 365.18 | +0.38 | +0.10% |
| SPTM | STATE STREET® SPDR® PORTFOLIO S&P 1500® COMPOSITE STOCK MARKET ETF – USD DIS | 89.87 | +0.07 | +0.08% |
| ITOT | ISHARES TRUST CORE S&P TOTAL US STOCK MKT | 162.10 | +0.10 | +0.06% |
Four other low-cost ETFs that track broad indexes will be added to the Trump Accounts lineup of investment options:
- iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV)
- Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI)
- State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 1500 Composite Stock Market ETF (SPTM)
- iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF (ITOT)
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Treasury indicated at the time of the announcement that it expected the functionality for additional investment options to roll out in the coming months, which would let parents or guardians allocate funds across the additional options.
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A major rural lifestyle retailer is closing dozens of pet stores in its portfolio around the country as it reevaluates both its existing footprint and growth plans.
Tractor Supply released its latest earnings report last week and revealed plans to close 75 Petsense locations around the country.
The company said in its release that as of late June, there were 209 Petsense by Tractor Supply stores across 23 states.
“Following a disciplined review of Petsense, we’ve decided to close approximately 75 underperforming stores. We believe these actions will improve returns, simplify the business, and allow us to direct resources towards higher growth, higher return opportunities,” said CEO Hal Lawton on the earnings call.
Tractor Supply revealed plans to close 75 Petsense stores around the country. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Lawton noted that the Petsense locations that are closing were negative four-wall cash flow, meaning that those stores’ sales weren’t enough to cover costs that are local to individual stores, such as rent, labor and inventory.
Stemming the losses from those locations will allow the company to reinvest funds back into the core of the business, he added.
Lawton also said that after the closures, he thinks the company will “have a very strong, profitable Petsense business,” and that it will work well within the company’s broader pet ecosystem that includes Allivet and VIP Petcare.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TSCO | TRACTOR SUPPLY CO. | 31.80 | +0.78 | +2.51% |
CVS OFFERS NEW PHARMACY OPTION FOR PET OWNERS
He also emphasized that the company doesn’t view the changes with Petsense as affecting the reacceleration of pet products within the core Tractor Supply business, which isn’t directly connected to Petsense.
Tractor Supply CFO Kurt Barton said on the call that the “strategic repositioning of Petsense is expected to create a healthier, more profitable business that better complements our Tractor Supply stores and strengthens our ability to serve pet customers across our integrated pet ecosystem.”
Tractor Supply said that its closure of 75 Petsense locations won’t affect its other pet-oriented initiatives. (Don and Melinda Crawford/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
TRACTOR SUPPLY NO LONGER GOING WOKE, ELIMINATES DEI GOALS
Lawton also said that Tractor Supply plans to open dozens of new stores in 2027, though the total number is expected to be approximately 85 to 90 stores as opposed to the company’s previous expectation of opening 100 new stores.
Funds saved from the pared-back store opening plans will be redeployed toward initiatives like remodels under Project Fusion, which aims to improve the performance of Tractor Supply’s existing store base.
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has offered to pay as much as $5.5bn (£4.14bn) to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging that its baby powder and other products containing talcum cause ovarian cancer.
The proposed landmark settlement aims to close a long-running legal battle that has weighed on the US healthcare giant for years.
J&J has denied that its talc-based products caused cancer and has changed the formula of its widely-used baby powder.
Erik Haas, the firm’s vice president of litigation said on Monday, external that the allegations are “meritless” and that J&J was willing to settle in order to finally resolve the matter.
J&J said the settlement would cover about 69,000 cases, totalling most of the remaining talc-related claims. The firm will offer up to $3bn next year, with no additional payments due before 2028, it said.
The proposal must be accepted by legal firms representing 95% of the ovarian cancer claims in state and federal courts before it can be finalised, the J&J said.
Haas said in a statement that the company is confident that it would have “ultimately prevailed with further litigation” just as it has in the majority of cases heard in court to date.
He added that the proposed resolution “allows the company to put this matter behind it” and enable J&J to “remain focused on its mission to develop medicines and devices that save lives”.
Lawsuits against J&J over its talc-based baby powder started as early as 2009.
Earlier in July, a federal court handed the firm a victory by questioning individual plaintiffs’ ability to show that talc was the direct cause of their ovarian cancer.
Talc is a natural mineral made of magnesium, silicon, oxygen and hydrogen, known for its soapy feel and is often used in baby powder.
The company has faced lawsuits from consumers and their survivors who claim J&J’s talc products caused cancer due to contamination with asbestos.
Talc is mined from the earth and is found in seams close to that of asbestos, which is a material known to cause cancer.
J&J has repeatedly denied the allegations and in its latest announcement said: “Studies show talc is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer.”
In 2022, J&J said it would stop making and selling its talc-based baby powder around the world.
The announcement came more than two years after it had ended sales of the product in the US.
“As part of a worldwide portfolio assessment, we have made the commercial decision to transition to an all cornstarch-based baby powder portfolio,” J&J said at the time.
Orange B and Citrus Red No. 2 are both petroleum-based additives.
Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, expresses concern over low munition stocks and rising tensions with Iran.
Ford Motor Co. is pursuing what could be its biggest military contract in decades as it competes to build a new tactical truck for the U.S. Army.
The automaker has secured a Department of War contract to develop three prototypes based on its F-Series Super Duty pickups, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
The competition comes as the Pentagon taps automakers to replenish and modernize military equipment strained by global conflicts, according to the outlet.
“We are excited to start work on this Army contract and look forward to delivering several incredibly capable vehicle types that demonstrate the value Ford can provide to the Army and soldiers,” a Ford spokesperson told FOX Business in an email.
FORD TO USE APPLE MAPS SOFTWARE IN SELF-DRIVING TECH FOR NEW EV PLATFORM
The Ford Motor Co. Michigan Assembly plant is pictured in Wayne, Michigan, on March 23, 2020. Ford is pursuing what could be its biggest military contract in decades. (Anthony Lanzilote/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The spokesperson said Ford’s Super Duty trucks are engineered for “extreme durability” and demanding conditions, making them an “ideal platform” for military use.
Ford Pro also offers global service and parts support, along with technology aimed at improving vehicle uptime, the spokesperson noted.
“Ford’s off-the-shelf solutions can deliver unmatched capacity and scale, cutting-edge technologies, and the rugged capabilities that can offer game-changing value and performance and meet the needs of governments and the military in a highly cost-effective way just as we do with our commercial customers,” the spokesperson said.
FORD REHIRES EXPERIENCED ENGINEERS AFTER AI MISSES THE MARK
Workers assemble Ford vehicles at the Chicago Assembly Plant on June 24, 2019, in Chicago, Illinois. The spokesperson said Ford’s Super Duty trucks are engineered for “extreme durability.” (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The move puts Ford in the running alongside rival General Motors (GM), which is developing a similar tactical truck.
GM unveiled its prototype in 2024, and the military has begun field testing it, according to The Wall Street Journal.
In addition to the two automakers, the Army has awarded a prototype contract to BC Customs LLC, a Utah-based off-road vehicle manufacturer, according to The Detroit News.
For Ford, the program could represent its largest military vehicle opportunity since the Cold War, the outlet reported.
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FORD ISSUES URGENT ‘DO NOT DRIVE’ ADVISORY FOR BRONCO SPORT, MAVERICK MODELS OVER SUSPENSION DEFECT
GM Defense’s Next Gen tactical vehicle is shown in an undated company photo. The move puts Ford in the running alongside rival GM, which is developing a similar tactical truck. (General Motors)
In May, Ford said it had been in discussions with governments in North America and Europe about using its commercial vehicles and software to support defense needs.
The company said some governments already use Ford vehicles for military transport and security operations.
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The Department of War referred FOX Business to the U.S. Army, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earnings call transcript: KIT posts resilient H1 2026 results as FFO rises 14%
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