With a new shake-up in the electric vehicle (EV) industry, Rivian has made a new and major addition to its leadership team with a new member, Javier Varela as the company’s new Chief Operations Officer (COO). Varela was formerly with Volvo Cars, where he was Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer. 

At Volvo Cars, Varela spent eight years leading the engineering, program management, manufacturing, supply chain, and procurement organizations. Moreover, Varela managed the company’s three key regions, including 14 industrial sites, engineering sites, and tech hubs worldwide according to Volvo Cars. 

Now, Varela’s new position in Rivian highlights the company’s goal to increase operational efficiency, with Varela focusing on the R2 SUV production. The R2 SUV production will be initiated in the company’s Normal, Illinois plant. The plant will further serve for the R2 and R23 product lines. Furthermore, Carela will also play a major role in increasing the company’s growth and assuring long-term profitability. 

Varela expressed his enthusiasm for the R2 production line stating, Varela. “I’m looking forward to helping the company scale and continue to innovate as it rolls out R2 and its next generation of vehicles.”

As for Rivian’s Founder and CEO, RJ Scaringe, he expressed his excitement with the new addition of Varela to the leadership team stating, ““Javier has a strong background in engineering, program management and innovation and a proven track record of success across a range of operating environments. We look forward to welcoming Javier to Rivian.”

With Rivian securing a $827 million incentive package from the State of Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity and its initiative to open its fast-charging network to other EVs, the company is heading into a solid position that will certainly make them further stand out in the EV industry. Varela will assume his new role in August, reporting directly to Rivian Founder and CEO, RJ Scaringe.

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