Former Porsche U.S. top executive said to be jumping to Rivian

Porsche Cars North America's former top executive, Kjell Gruner, is said to be headed to the U.S. electric vehicle upstart Rivian Automotive, sources have told Automotive News.

Gruner did not return a request for comment on email and LinkedIn this week.

When reached for comment, a Rivian spokesperson said: "I don't have any information to provide at this time."

On Thursday, Germany's Manager Magazin also reported that Gruner is expected to take a job at Rivian.

On July 5, Porsche announced Gruner was leaving the sports carmaker "at his own request" and less than three years on the job.

In his relatively short tenure as CEO, Gruner steered Porsche's U.S. business through the pandemic and set the brand on track to hit a three-year sales high this year.

Porsche told dealers it expects U.S. sales to hit 80,000 next year, up nearly 15 percent from 2022.

Gruner's role at Rivian is unknown, but the executive is not likely to replace founder RJ Scaringe as CEO.

With a marketing, operations and strategy background at established auto brands, Gruner could help the EV maker in various capacities. Before his most recent role, Gruner was Porsche AG's chief marketing officer and global vice president of marketing.

Gruner joined Porsche in 1999 from Boston Consulting Group. In 2004, he left Porsche for Daimler, where he rose to director of strategy for Mercedes-Benz Cars before returning to Porsche in 2010.

Gruner is well-suited to a public company because of his background in marketing, a Porsche retailer said.

"He's attuned to ever-changing consumer trends and knows which variants and models are likely to move," said one of the sources, who asked not to be identified.

Landing a top executive from an iconic automotive brand, such as Porsche, would bring cachet to Rivian, which seeks to "penetrate the high end of the market," said George Gianarikas, Managing Director at Canaccord Genuity.

"Rivian has done a good job of hiring people from traditional industrial operations but also from the technology sector," said Gianarikas, who was unaware of Gruner's reported move to Rivian.

Whatever role the sneaker-wearing Gruner fills at Rivian, he should expect a challenge.

Like other auto startups, Rivian is burning billions of dollars as it launches new models and invests in production and distribution capacity.

Rivian posted a $1.35 billion first-quarter net loss on revenue of $661 million. Its stock had shed 93 percent of its value this spring before recovering on strong factory output numbers this month.

The Amazon-backed automaker builds three vehicles in Normal, Ill., — an electric delivery van, a pickup and a crossover — and it is working on its next vehicle platform, R2, designed for less expensive models.

Meanwhile, Rivian is building a sprawling $5 billion assembly plant near Atlanta while ironing out manufacturing issues at its Illinois factory.

Gruner's hiring could signal that Rivian is preparing to move beyond startup mode, said Ivan Drury, Edmunds' insights director.

"Having a seasoned automotive veteran with intimate knowledge of selling high-end products will do wonders for the brand," Drury said.

But Gruner is going into his new gig with eyes wide open.

In a LinkedIn post announcing his exit from Porsche, the executive wrote: "How can you leave Porsche??? A great team, a great brand, great products! But sometimes there is the next mountain to climb."

Laurence Iliff contributed to this report.