Rivian last week laid off 140 employees, representing about 1% of its workforce, prompting Jacopo Marzetti, head of logistics at Scout Motors, to encourage them to apply at the Volkswagen Group brand, which aims to launch its first electric vehicles in 2027.
“Sympathy and support to the employees impacted by the latest Rivian layoffs,” Marzetti wrote Monday in a LinkedIn post. “Have a look to the Scout Motors career website and apply directly to join our team.”
The post included a link to the Scout career site, which listed 127 job openings at the time of publication covering areas ranging from sales and management of parts supplies, to software development and vehicle engineering. TechCrunch reported last week that most of the Rivian layoffs affected the automaker’s manufacturing team, and that employees were being encouraged to apply to other open positions within the company.
Two EV Brands Ramp Up
Eric Anderson/Rivian
Both Rivian and Scout are in the midst of production ramp-ups. Rivian is looking to start manufacturing its R2 electric SUV in 2026. First shown in 2024, the R2 is a smaller model with a targeted base price of $45,000 that could open up a wider audience for Rivian, making it key to the automaker’s continued development.
Scout, meanwhile, is trying to get its first products to customers. A revival of the classic International Harvester Scout name and ethos under the Volkswagen Group aegis, Scout plans to offer an SUV called the Traveler and a pickup truck called the Terra with a choice of all-electric or plug-in hybrid powertrains. The latter, dubbed Harvester, will use a naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engine to extend total range from the estimated 350 miles of all-electric Scout models to about 500 miles.
Concept versions of both the Traveler and Terra were shown in late 2023, with designs expected to mostly carry over to production, which would create the closest rivals to the Rivian R1S and R1T we’ve seen so far. In addition to completing development work on the vehicles themselves, Scout must complete construction of a $2 billion South Carolina factory, which targets up to 200,000 vehicles a year, the brand has said.
Some Common Ground
Chicago Tribune/Getty Images
True to its name, Scout will take a different approach to Rivian—and other VW Group brands—with a body-on-frame platform for maximum authenticity. But Scout will have access to Rivian’s zonal electrical architecture and software under a $5.8 billion joint venture between Rivian and the VW Group announced in late 2024. It’s still unclear which production vehicles will benefit from this partnership, but Rivian’s tech will be in the toolbox Scout can rummage through as it looks to complete development of its rugged new vehicles.
