Arrival SA (NASDAQ:ARVL), a British electric vehicle company, plans to cut its workforce 30% as part of a restructuring of its business as it looks to start production of its Arrival Van in the third quarter as planned.
The Oxfordshire-based, Nasdaq-listed company said the restructuring is in response to the challenging economic environment with the 30% cut in spending to help meet its late-2023 business targets after using the US$500mln cash on hand.
It follows Rivian's announcement that it will brief employees about potential layoffs, as well as Tesla's announcement that it would lay off 229 employees.
Last month Arrival said its electric van had ticked all the boxes and been given EU certification and approval (EUWVTA), a critical step towards starting trials with customers in the coming months.
The company expects to begin producing the van at its Bicester 'microfactory' in the current quarter.
Arrival went public in the US via a SPAC deal in early 2021, with its strategy aimed at building electric delivery vans and buses in smaller, less expensive factories.
However, the stock's US listing has tumbled 89% over the past 12 months as it pushed back dates of public road trials and last November warned that production numbers of its first electric vans and buses will be “significantly lower” than expected as it focuses investment on developing other EV platforms rather than ramping up volumes.
In the first quarter, Arrival reported a net loss of US$10.4mln.
The company is to provide a business strategy update during its second quarter earnings call on August 11.