Rivian expects Q3 net loss of about $1.2 billion on higher production costs for debut EV

Rivian Automotive Inc., the Amazon-backed electric-pickup maker that’s preparing to go public, expects to record a quarterly net loss of up to $1.28 billion due to costs associated with the start of production of its debut truck.

The losses are increasing from a year ago due to “significant labor and overhead costs” for its plant in Normal, Ill., the startup said Friday in a filing. The net loss for the period ended Sept. 30 will range from $1.18 billion to $1.28 billion, according to the preliminary results.

“As we just started to ramp vehicle production at the site, the facility produced limited quantities of vehicles in the period,” the company said. The operating loss for the quarter is expected to be $725 million to $775 million.

The company, which began delivering the R1T truck last quarter, previously reported a net loss of nearly $1 billion in the first half of the year.

Rivian is among the most serious competitors lining up to take on electric-vehicle leader Tesla Inc. It was seeking to be valued at about $80 billion in a listing, Bloomberg News reported in August when the company announced that it filed confidentially for an IPO.

CEO R.J. Scaringe may maintain control over Rivian through a class of stock giving him 10 votes per share compared with the single vote allocated to each regular share, the amended filing said. It didn’t specify the percentage of voting power or total shares that Scaringe will own.

To attract retail investors, Rivian plans to allocate a portion of its IPO to the personal finance startup SoFi Securities LLC’s online brokerage platform, the company said. Rivian also disclosed the issuance of more than $1 billion in nonconvertible debt securities in the three-year period.

The company continues to list the size of its offering as $100 million, a placeholder sum will change when terms of the share sale, including price range, are set.

Rivian also said claims made by Tesla in a trade secrets lawsuit are “meritless.” The company previously said only that it aims to defend itself in the suit.