Rivian appoints former Magna executive as chief operating officer

American electric vehicle start-up Rivian has named its new chief executive officer.

Former executive of Canadian automotive parts manufacturer Magna International Frank Klein will join Rivian as its COO, bringing with him experience from vehicle production at Magna’s plant in Austria.

Having been one of the executives at the top of the chain when Magna Steyr’s Graz plant shifted more towards an electric mobility platform, Klein’s history also includes a stint at Daimler – parent company to Mercedes-Benz – which lasted just under two decades, setting up its plant in Kecskemét, Hungary.

The appointment comes after the manufacturer faced difficult months navigating production issues.

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Based at Rivian’s lone production facility in Normal, Illinois, Klein will be tasked with turning the company’s fortunes around after it announced a 50 per cent reduction in production targets for 2022, dropping to 25,000 units owing to supply chain issues.

Despite becoming one of the world’s most valuable car companies just days after going public on the stock market late last year (peaking at US$179.47/AU$249.91 a share), Rivian’s share prices have plummeted dropping to their lowest-ever point of US$35.83/AU$49.89 at the time of writing.

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The drop coincides with the manufacturer facing a public backlash earlier this month after it increased order prices of its vehicles by up to 20 per cent, which also applied to customers who had already ordered their vehicles but not yet taken delivery.

Rivian became the first manufacturer to produce a fully-electric pick-up truck when its R1T rolled off the production line in September, beating the controversial Tesla Cybertruck, Ford’s F-150 Lightning and Chevrolet Silverado Electric.