Rivian names former Magna unit executive as operating chief

Rivian has named Frank Klein, a previous govt at Canadian car areas maker Magna International’s unit, as its chief running officer, at a time when the electrical carmaker has waned on its 2022 manufacturing forecast.

During his tenure at the Austria-based device, Magna Steyr, Klein oversaw its change to the electric powered mobility manufacturing space, which includes the generation of the initially electric car created by a agreement company, Rivian said on Monday.

He earlier served in many administration positions at German carmaker Daimler AG for almost 3 a long time and was responsible for environment up the Mercedes-Benz plant in Kecskemét, Hungary.

Klein will be centered in Typical, Illinois, in which Rivian currently creates its autos. The company past year mentioned it would find its 2nd U.S-based manufacturing facility in Ga. Production at the Georgia plant is slated for 2024.

Rivian past 7 days claimed supply-chain troubles could slice its planned output in half in 2022 to 25,000 cars.

Klein succeeds Rod Copes, who retired in December.

Amazon-backed Rivian recently lifted its costs by 20%, but rolled them back again for orders booked prior to March 1 pursuing a backlash.

(Reporting by Eva Mathews and Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru)