Elon Musk says Rivian needs to ‘cut costs massively’ and its execs should ‘live in the factory’ or the Tesla rival will die

Elon Musk is not surprised by the bad news hitting Tesla rival Rivian. He’s been warning about it for some time.

On Wednesday, Rivian announced a disappointing quarter and outlook and said it would cut its salaried workforce by roughly 10%.

Shortly after, Musk wrote on X that the rival maker of electric vehicles would go bankrupt in about six quarters on the current trajectory, adding, “Maybe that trajectory will change, but so far it hasn’t.”

“They need to cut costs massively and the exec team needs to live in the factory or they will die,” he wrote.

Musk, having gone through “production hell” and “sleeping at the factory” himself at Tesla, should know.

The billionaire has warned about Rivian’s challenges before. In June 2022, he said his advice for the company would be “to cut costs immediately across the board dramatically or they’re doomed.”

After markets opened on Thursday, Rivian shares fell by as much as 26%, their biggest drop and lowest level since the company went public in 2021.

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe pointed to high interest rates as one of the EV maker’s key challenges, something Musk has described as hampering Tesla as well.

“Our business is not immune to existing economic and geopolitical uncertainties, most notably the impact of historically high interest rates, which has negatively impacted demand,” Scaringe said on an earnings call.

That’s not the only challenge.

EV slowdown

Sales growth of EVs, while still strong, has recently slowed, spurring Ford and GM to pare back their production plans. This is partly because the early EV enthusiasts have already bought their vehicles, and regular car shoppers are more likely to be turned off by the higher prices, range anxiety, and poor resale value associated with EVs, among other concerns.

Tesla, in a call with investors, warned of “notably lower” sales growth this year after a disappointing fourth quarter. Musk said his EV maker is “between two major growth waves” as…