Kemp: Rivian and Georgia remain 'committed' to $5B manufacturing plant

MORGAN COUNTY, Ga. - Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and automaker Rivian remain committed to making a $5 billion manufacturing plant happen in the Peach State despite a pause on the project.

California-based Rivian had planned to start building its new R2 midsize SUVs at the site in Morgan County. State and local governments offered an incentive package as large as $1.5 billion, one of the largest ever offered for an American auto plant.

But last week, Rivian's CEO RJ Scaringe said production of the R2 will instead begin at Rivian’s existing plant in Normal, Illinois and that construction on the Georgia plant would be temporarily stopped.

"Our Georgia site remains really important to us," Scaringe said. "It’s core to the scaling across all these vehicles, between R2, R3 and R3X. And we’re so appreciative of all the partnership we’ve had there."

At a press conference on Tuesday, Kemp addressed the automaker's announcement for the first time, saying that Rivian's decision was "disappointing" but that the state was still optimistic about the deal.

"What they've relayed to me is that there is no doubt here. We're under contract with them. The state is in a really good place," he said.

Rivian has not given a timetable for restarting work on the Georgia plant, saying in a statement: "The timing for resuming construction is expected to be later."

The site near Social Circle is expected to eventually hire 7,500 workers and produce up to 200,000 vehicles by the completion of its first phase later this year. A second planned phase would boost capacity by an additional 200,000 vehicles per year by 2030. It must meet 80% of its jobs and investment goals by the end of 2030 to avoid penalties.

State and local governments were projected to spend more than $125 million to buy the nearly 2,000-acre site, clear trees and grade land, documents show. That work has been finished, with the state turning the site over to Rivian. The state also has completed most of the $50 million in roadwork that it pledged. But signs for Rivian Parkway at a new traffic signal on U.S. 278 had been removed as of last week.

The site of the planned Rivian plant.

Still, Kemp remained positive that construction would continue on schedule.

"They can still meet the metrics that they have to under our contract obligations by 2030," Kemp said, "We honor our commitments in our state, and we're going to do that in regards to the site, and we're expecting the company to honor their commitments as well."

The pause at Rivian contrasts with rapid construction at Hyundai Motor Group’s $7.6 billion electric vehicle and battery complex near Savannah. The plant in Ellabell, announced in 2022, could grow to 8,500 employees. The company recently said it now aims to begin production later this year, instead of in 2025.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.