It is not the first time that we see how a brand prioritizes the manufacture and delivery of some units or others depending on whether a model can be more profitable for said company. Rivian is doing something similar. In recent months we have seen how the first electric cars have begun to come out of its factory, however, all that glitters is not gold and Rivian is already beginning to get detractorsincluding their own clients.
Rivian has become, on its own merits, a benchmark in the electric automotive sector, particularly due to its launch in plate to market the first electric pick-up From the market, the Rivian R1T. Once this model laid the foundations for what could be an electric model of this caliber, other brands also jumped on the bandwagon and we already see how many others make future plans to develop their own vehicles in this particular segment.
However, Rivian is currently in some trouble in several respects. The first of these is its late orders, which is causing enormous dissatisfaction among the company’s own customers. From Rivian have given manufacturing priority to certain finishes of the R1T, such as the Black Mountain and Forest Edge, leaving the Ocean Coast certainly behind; this preference also goes through colors for the bodywork, or other particular and personal elements of each unit.
That is why there are cases in which they placed their Rivian R1T order shortly after it opened their reservation book, specifically at the beginning of the year 2019, and they have not yet received their electric pick-up while others who did the same years later have been given their car keys. This is causing enormous controversy among the brand’s potential customers, who They assure that Rivian is not doing things right and therefore they are deciding to wait to acquire a Ford F-150 Lightning or any other similar model of some well-established brand in the market and that provides them with certain guarantees.
The manufacturing priority of one model or another is being done because in Rivian they ensure that this will ease the build complexity with your suppliers and this will lead to them being able to deliver a larger number of orders. However, this is not giving confidence to Rivian customers, who even think that they will not receive their order for several months when they were the first to carry out the aforementioned reservation.
Additionally, several analysts are already talking about a economic mismanagement by the American company, because currently the brand has a total cash of 16 billion dollars, which could be spent before it is due due to the aforementioned mismanagement. According to Morgan Stanley, the firm spent around 1.2 million dollars per vehicle delivered in the first quarter, due particularly to causes of development, start-up of the factory and certain sections of it. The same analyst speaks of a spending forecast of 7 billion dollars for this year, which is why he is already warning Rivian’s management that they will have to change their image in the eyes of investors if they want to maintain the growth of their assets.
These setbacks join the controversy already caused by the increase in the price of its models in recent months. Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson has also weighed in on the matter and believes Rivian should raise its prices further if it really wants to turn a profit. His calculations estimate that the starting price of the R1T should be around $95,000.when today your initial bill stands at $ 84,500, after your last price increase.
