Electric vehicle maker in Charlotte and Rock Hill plans to slash spending by 30%
The British electric vehicle maker Arrival, which has its U.S. headquarters in South End, detailed a new business plan this week that would reduce spending across the company by 30%.
The plan could impact up to nearly a third of Arrival’s employees globally.
Arrival operates or is planning three microfactories in Charlotte and Rock Hill, and had announced plans for about 800 employees in the Charlotte area, The Charlotte Observer previously reported. The current number of employees was not immediately available.
A spokeswoman for Arrival, Rana Khatun, said the company is “unable to confirm what the final impact of the restructure will be in the Charlotte region.” But she added that “Charlotte remains a key market to us, and we want to reaffirm our commitment to launching and producing our vehicles there.”
Khatun also said Arrival is in a “black-out period” and could not share further updates. More information will be available at the company’s second-quarter earnings call on Aug. 11.
Arrival announced its South End headquarters in December 2020, saying in a news release at the time that the company’s mission aligned with Charlotte’s plans “to improve sustainability efforts and reduce greenhouse emissions.”
Production delayed in Rock Hill
In addition to its South End site, Arrival had previously announced electric van and battery microfactories in Charlotte and an electric bus microfactory in Rock Hill. But the company said in March it was delaying the start of production at the Rock Hill facility to focus on manufacturing buses in the U.K.
Khatun declined to comment on the status of the company’s factories during the black-out period.
A spokesman for the Charlotte mayor’s office, Jeremy Mills, declined to comment.
A spokeswoman for Rock Hill, Katie Quinn, said the city was “not aware of any changes to Arrival’s plans in Rock Hill.”
This story was originally published July 15, 2022 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Electric vehicle maker in Charlotte and Rock Hill plans to slash spending by 30%."
