Jody Kerns, who ran general assembly for the Cybercab at Tesla's Gigafactory Texas in Austin, is leaving Tesla to become Director of General Assembly for the Rivian R2 at Rivian's plant in Normal, Illinois. Kerns announced the move in a LinkedIn post on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, and Electrek, EV (eletric-vehicles.com) and RivianTrackr reported it this week.
"I am looking forward to starting my next adventure as Director of General Assembly with Rivian, supporting the R2 program in Normal, Illinois," Kerns wrote, according to EV. "Our goal is ambitious: to help make the Rivian R2 the best electric SUV in the market." He thanked his Tesla team for everything "from the WEOL project to the launch of the Cyber Cab." He did not explain what WEOL is.
What he did at Tesla
Kerns joined Tesla in January 2024 as an end-of-line manager and became Senior Manager of Cybercab General Assembly in February 2026, according to his LinkedIn profile as reported by Electrek and EV. That put him in charge of final assembly as the two-seat, steering-wheel-free robotaxi ramped toward paid public rides in Austin in early September. Before Tesla he spent 14 years and six months at Volkswagen of America, ending as Director of Assembly from March 2021 to January 2024.
Electrek calls him the second Cybercab launch leader to leave this year. It reports that Michael So, Tesla's Head of Cybercab new product introduction from September 2024 to April 2026 and Giga Texas employee No. 1, left to become VP of Product Engineering at Austin nuclear startup Aalo Atomics. Tesla has not commented on either departure, and Rivian has not announced the hire, EV notes.
Why Rivian wants him
Kerns replaces Alborz Monzavi, whose LinkedIn lists the R2 general assembly director role from November 2025 to September 2026, EV reports. Rivian started a second R2 shift before the end of September, delivered a record 19,248 vehicles in Q3 and is guiding to 65,000 to 70,000 deliveries this year, including 20,000 to 25,000 R2s. The Normal plant is planned for up to 155,000 R2s a year. Rivian is also in the news this week for its expanded Redwood Materials battery deal and for its robotics spinout Mind Robotics hiring Doug Field.
What it means for Tesla
The Cybercab line is already running: Texas DMV records now list 349 registered Cybercabs, and the car is under NHTSA scrutiny over its lack of manual controls. Losing the manager who ran final assembly mid-ramp doesn't by itself change Tesla's output, but it's a name to watch as Cybercab volume questions come up at Tesla's Q3 earnings call.
