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We’re in the middle of one of my four favorite times of the year – results season. And it’s not just that I like numbers. These required filings interrupted a lot of the marketing noise that companies presented for the rest of the year. They also help me assess the short-term and long-term stakes that companies face.
RivianFourth-quarter and full-year earnings did just that. My take: Software, and specifically its technology joint venture with Volkswagen Group, was the company’s savior in 2025. It will also boost the company through 2026 (another $2 billion is expected from VW Group) as Rivian launches its most important product yet: the lower-priced R2 SUV.
The company’s earnings also gave a report on the progress of its bid to reduce the cost of goods sold per unit. The TL;DR is that the number of teeth per unit for its current portfolio is still high, but it’s going down, which means it’s losing less on each vehicle sold. According to Rivian, the company’s automotive transfers per unit shipped were $100,900 in 2025, down from $110,400 in 2024.
The next big test will be the upcoming R2, which is expected to be significantly cheaper (both in terms of production costs and price tag) than its flagship R1T truck and R1S SUV. We will hear about its results later this year.
The R2 is expected to go into production in the first half of the year (June, we’re hearing), and based on its 2026 guidance, Rivian is confident it has the demand and ability to start production. The company expects to deliver between 62,000 and 67,000 vehicles in 2026 – which could represent up to a 59% increase over last year. Rivian has delivered 42,247 cars in 2025, which includes its two R1 consumer cars and an electric van (EDV).
The market loved that guidance, btw. Rivian shares rose 27% the day after it reported earnings.
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Little bird
Over the past 18 months I have noticed a difference in how Uber and Lyft approaching AV. Uber is making AV partnerships with every player it can. Lyft is behind. It turns out I’m not alone in this observation.
Insiders shared their confusion as to why Lyft wasn’t more aggressive on that front. They noted that Lyft has cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash of about $1.8 billion, and recently announced a new $1 billion stock buyback program that represents about 15% of its market cap on CNBC. This makes one wonder why Lyft didn’t invest in shares of the AV value chain like Uber does, versus buying back shares.
Meanwhile, the birds also pointed to several top executives who have left over the past year. Aurélien Nolf has relinquished his position as Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis and Investor Relations to Navan’s CFO. Audrey Liu, who was executive vice president and head of rider and community safety, is now at Adobe. Ameena Gill, who was vice president of safety and customer care, just took a job at rival Uber.
Do you have a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or my Signal at kkorosec.07 or email Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com.
Offers!
Close followers of the mobility-crazed years between 2015 and 2019 may recall how many lidar companies emerged during that time. Many of the dominant and loudest ones have since closed, while some of the smaller players have stayed and expanded.
Take it Ousterfor example. I remember a long time ago at CES, Ouster had this little booth in the crowded startup area (Eureka Park). Today, the company is much bigger—thanks to scale, a merger with rival Velodyne in 2022, and an acquisition of Sense Photonics in 2021. And it doesn’t look like it’s done.
The company recently acquired Stereolabsa company that makes vision-based perception systems for robotics and industrial applications, for a combined $35 million and 1.8 million shares.
As TechCrunch senior reporter Sean O’Kane notes in his article, the deal is the latest in a move toward consolidation among perception sensor vendors. (Just last month, MicroVision bought the lidar assets of the busy but now bankrupt Luminar for $33 million.)
So why all the activity? It’s complicated, as they say. In my view, the frenzy surrounding “physical AI” has created interest and investment in sensor technology, especially cameras.
Other offers that caught my eye…
At allthe EV-only market, raised $31 million in a Series A funding round led by Eclipse. Other backers include Ibex Investors, Lifeline Ventures and JIMCO – the investment arm of Saudi Arabia’s Jameel family (an early investor in Rivian).
Natilusa San Diego-based startup developing hybrid wing aircraft, has raised $28 million in a Series A funding round led by Draper Associates. Other investors include Type One Ventures, The Veteran Fund and Flexport, as well as new backers New Vista Capital, Soma Capital, Liquid 2 VC, VU Venture Partners and Wave FX.
Remarkable reading and other tidbits
Aurora in its Q4 and full-year earnings report, it said its self-driving trucks can now drive non-stop on a 1,000-mile route between Fort Worth and Phoenix — exceeding what a human driver can legally accomplish. The company shared a number of other tidbits and financials, which you can read about here.
Tea US Securities and Exchange Commission closed his investigation Fisker Last year, TechCrunch was able to learn thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request.
Lyft launched Teen Accounts, a product that allows minors 13 and older to ride unaccompanied in 200 US cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and New York.
A fresh batch of videos gives us the best look at how Rivian has changed the manual tailgate release on its upcoming R2 SUV. This seemingly small design detail is at stake for life and death, and it comes as the EV industry, and especially Teslaputs pressure on replacing hidden, electronic door handles.
The Trump administration has officially rescinded the EPA’s 2009 “endangerment finding” that found greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane to be a threat to human health and well-being. The change would only affect car and truck tailpipe emissions — if the EPA goes through the lengthy process of repealing the law, which is sure to include numerous lawsuits aimed at stopping it.
Uber has closed several dozen AV partnerships and we are starting to see the results of these deals. Chinese Baidu and Uber plan to launch robotaxis in Dubai next month, starting with select locations in the Jumeirah area. Meanwhile, a Chinese robotaxi company WeRide and Uber announced a “major expansion of their strategic partnership” with the goal of deploying at least 1,200 robotic axes across the Middle East by 2027, according to the companies. As part of this, WeRide and Uber have launched a robotaxi service in downtown Abu Dhabi.
Waymo has pulled human safety drivers from its autonomous test vehicles in Nashville as the Alphabet-owned company moves closer to launching a robotaxi service in the city. Meanwhile, this high-tech company is grappling with the analog problem of how to ensure the doors of its robotic axis close properly. His solution? pay DoorDash workers at a concert to close the doors of Waymo’s robot taxi. Waymo tells us it’s a pilot program in Atlanta to increase the efficiency of its AV fleet.
One final Waymo item: The company is starting to roll out its sixth-generation “Waymo Driver,” which is integrated into the Zeekr RT (rebadged Ojai) and will eventually be in the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Waymo has begun “fully autonomous operations” in the Ojai vehicle in San Francisco and Los Angeles, providing access to employees. The public will have to wait a little longer.
One more thing…
Rivian presented its upcoming R2 SUV as a more affordable model. What does “more affordable” mean? The company threw around $45,000 and $50,000 as a base price. The said company version of the R2, which will be the premium trim with dual mode and all-wheel drive, will undoubtedly be more expensive. In our newsletter this week, we asked readers, “What do you estimate the cost of launching a release?”
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