Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Rivian’s Chief Operations Officer Javier Varela announced on Tuesday that the electric vehicle maker has hired Krishna Bandaru as its new Vice-President of Manufacturing Engineering.
In a LinkedIn post, Varela said the new VP will lead the team to improve productivity, increase manufacturing efficiency, optimize capital expenditures, and reduce launch time.
At Stellantis, Krishna was serving as the Head of Vehicle Process Engineering for North America where he was leading and executing all Vehicle Assembly Projects in the region for Stamping, Welding, Painting, General Assembly and Logistics for all New Model and Non-New Model launches.
“We are thrilled to welcome Krishna Bandaru to the Rivian team as VP of Manufacturing Engineering. With more than 25 years of experience in manufacturing at Stellantis, Krishna will lead the team to improve our productivity, increase our manufacturing efficiency, deliver high-quality products, while optimizing Capex and reducing launch time,” Rivian’s COO wrote.
Varela further emphasized Krishna’s expertise in scaling manufacturing operations and his focus on innovative manufacturing processes,
“Krishna has a passion for scaling up manufacturing operations with a focus on innovative manufacturing processes, which is crucial as we expand our operations in Normal to bring R2 to market in 2026,” the executive added.
Rivian and Volkswagen Group announced last week the official launch of their joint venture, revealing that the total deal size had increased from $5 billion to $5.8 billion, with operations having officially started on November 13.
Rivian’s electrical architecture and software technology stack will be used across several future models of the Volkswagen Group with the first ones expected to be launched in early 2027.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
