Who Makes Rivian?
Rivian is an independent American electric vehicle manufacturer founded in 2009 by RJ Scaringe. Vehicles are built at Rivian's own plant in Normal, Illinois.
Quick Answer
Rivian is made by Rivian Automotive, Inc., an American electric vehicle company founded in 2009 by MIT graduate RJ Scaringe. The company is publicly traded on Nasdaq under ticker RIVN.
Every Rivian R1T pickup, R1S SUV and EDV delivery van is built at the company's plant in Normal, Illinois, a former Mitsubishi assembly facility Rivian acquired in 2017.
The Company
Rivian is headquartered in Irvine, California with engineering offices in Plymouth, Michigan and Palo Alto, California. The company has raised over $10 billion from investors since founding.
Major shareholders include Amazon, which invested $700 million in 2019 and holds around 16 percent of Rivian, and various institutional investors. Ford held about a 12 percent stake but sold most of it in 2022.
How Rivian Started
RJ Scaringe founded the company in 2009 in Florida as Mainstream Motors, later renamed Rivian. The early years were quiet, with Rivian working on hybrid sports car prototypes before pivoting to electric adventure vehicles around 2015.
The R1T pickup and R1S SUV were unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November 2018. First customer deliveries of the R1T began in September 2021, making it the first mass produced electric pickup in the US.
Where Rivian Vehicles Are Built
The Normal, Illinois plant is Rivian's only production facility today. Rivian bought it from Mitsubishi in 2017 for $16 million and has since invested billions to convert it for EV production.
A second plant in Stanton Springs, Georgia was announced in 2021 with planned capacity of 400,000 vehicles per year. The Georgia site has been paused to prioritize a lower cost R2 SUV that will be built in Normal starting in 2026.
The Amazon Relationship
Amazon's 2019 investment came with an order for 100,000 Electric Delivery Vans (EDVs) for its logistics fleet. Rivian builds two variants (EDV 500 and EDV 700) at the Normal plant and Amazon began deploying them in 2022.
Amazon's exclusive purchase clause ended in late 2023, freeing Rivian to sell EDVs to other fleet customers. AT&T became the first non Amazon fleet buyer in early 2024.
How Rivian Compares To Rivals
The R1T competes with the Ford F-150 Lightning and GMC Hummer EV. The R1S competes with the Kia EV9, Tesla Model X and upcoming Cadillac Escalade IQ. Rivian's advantage is off road capability and a genuinely rugged interior; the disadvantage is price and a smaller service network than Tesla.
The upcoming R2 SUV starting around $45,000 will move Rivian into direct Tesla Model Y territory, expected on sale in 2026.
How To Trace Any Product Back To Its Manufacturer
- Read the fine print on the label. US and EU packaging law requires either the manufacturer name or a "distributed by" address. That is your starting point.
- Search the company's SEC filings. Public parent companies list subsidiaries and manufacturing sites in their 10-K annual reports.
- Check the regulator establishment number. For food, drugs, cosmetics, cars and appliances, the plant of origin can often be looked up in public regulatory databases.
- Follow the money. Press releases about acquisitions and joint ventures are the fastest way to spot who really controls a brand today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Amazon own Rivian? Amazon is a large shareholder (about 16 percent) but does not control the company.
Is Rivian owned by Ford? No. Ford held a stake but sold most of it in 2022.
Where are Rivian vehicles built? Normal, Illinois.
When will the Rivian R2 be released? Rivian has targeted first R2 deliveries for the first half of 2026.
What This Means For The Shopper
Understanding who makes Rivian today matters for a few practical reasons. First, corporate ownership tells you who is legally responsible for the product, who handles a warranty claim, and where a safety recall would come from. Second, ownership determines the supply chain: brands owned by the same parent often share components, factories, technology and even entire platforms, which is why you sometimes see nearly identical products under different labels at very different prices.
Third, ownership tells you which alternatives are functionally the same product. Whether it is a paper mill, a contract apparel factory or an auto assembly line, the same site frequently produces for several brands at once under different specifications. That is why store brand and lower priced siblings can be a smart substitute for the marquee Rivian product when you do not need the marketing.
What To Watch Going Forward
Consumer brand ownership keeps consolidating. In the past five years alone, several major consumer brands (including some that makes Rivian) have moved between parent companies through spin offs, sales and joint ventures. Expect more of the same over the next five years as conglomerates rationalize portfolios and as private equity continues to reshape mid cap consumer brands.
If you buy from Rivian regularly and care about who profits from your purchase, it is worth checking the label, sticker or badge every year or two. Ownership changes are usually announced in trade press but rarely make consumer headlines, so most shoppers miss them until the packaging or branding gets a subtle redesign to reflect the new parent company.
Bottom Line
Rivian is a young independent American EV maker, publicly traded, with Amazon and Ford as former or current investors. All production runs through the Normal, Illinois plant, with the cheaper R2 expected to move the brand into mainstream volume in 2026.