Rivian reports an acute decrease in quarterly deliveries in the form of sweet demand bites

(Reuters) -rivian reported a 36% drop in deliveries on the first quarter on Wednesday, while the manufacturer of electric vehicles is struggling with low demand, which reduced its shares more than 2%.

The company delivered 8,640 vehicles during the quarter completed on March 31, against 13,588 a year earlier. Deliveries, however, exceeded the average estimate of analysts of 8,200, according to Visible Alpha.

The company’s financial director, Claire McDonough, said that vehicle deliveries in February would be lower than this year due to sweet demand, partly due to the impact of fires in Los Angeles.

Rivian and other manufacturers of electric vehicles have struggled against difficult demand for their vehicles, consumers, opt for cheaper hybrid and gas models in an uncertain economic and political environment.

The pricing policies of American president Donald Trump could accelerate inflation and increase the prices of cars, which makes consumers to be wary of engaging in large purchases.

RIVIAN CEO RJ Scarge, told Reuters earlier this year that the company provides higher costs of prices on Mexico and Canada because it has a fingerprint of the supply chain in both countries.

The company produced 14,611 vehicles in the first quarter, against 13,980 vehicles a year ago.

It reaffirmed its annual production forecasts and plans to announce its quarterly financial results on May 6, after the markets are closed.

Rivian is strongly implemented on the deployment of his cheaper R2 next year to invigorate the demand and compete with the Tesla de Tesla model at EV Tesla Y.

(Report by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; edition by Shilpi Majumdar)