? New Rivian email: production sequence adjustments to maximize production output in spite of supply challenge

[Can't wait ...]

I feel like I'm back in college and attending psychology 101. Being forced to partake in a social experiment for the class. I prefer the OC mostly due to my mustang mache with the space gray interior that I love. What decision do I make and why...

Option1: business decision. Keep OC interior. I have a 21 Mache I love and don't really need the truck per se. It would make more financial sense to continue to pay on the Mustang for equity when I trade in while waiting for the OC interior. I love the Mustang and the only reason I'm getting rid of it because it's not a truck. I also plan/worry it won't be delivered until the 1st quarter of 23.

Option 2: keeping up with the Jones. I change to BM to keep close to my original delivery date. On the other hand I am jealous other people have their truck and it would be nice to have the truck and be a member of the few owners. I also allowed myself to have a little bit of hope to having one in late June (my window).


And for the record ...as of 10:12 EST on 4/25...I changed to BM ?

We did the same thing. ?

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[BuzzL8ghtYears]

Man, some people on here are on fiyahhhhh. lol

Look, i ordered late and have a window of late 2022. I had OC at one point and once I heard BM was on the line, i switched. Personally I don't care for my interior color - i've had white and black interiors in the past. None of them matter to me in the long run - as long as that glass roof blocks the heat exceptionally like the Ford Mach E does.

I also don't try to stress too much about these decisions since at the end of the day its an automobile that wants 73K to buy it. It'll come when it comes.

though i understand the LE holders who are upset - waiting so long.

 

[MountainBikeDude]

So .... RJ backed off of the price increase because customers felt that there was a contract price in place (when there really was none).

Now ... Launch Edition folks are going to get their vehicles at the same time (or possibly after) Adventure people (like me) are going to get their vehicles ... when "priority delivery" is ACTUALLY in writing from Rivian?

I don't even want to categorize how bad that seems.

You make a very good point. And to make a business case for the slight side step from priority delivery, if you have say 50 LE's in a given area, let's use Bellevue as an example. You deliver those 50 LE's save for the OC interior, now what? Do you sit on your hands at the remote Rivian hub and wait until the final LE is delivered in Kansas? , or start shipping Adventure trims to customers concurrently??

It isn't fair, and while I continue to wait, and watch others drive around, it makes sense. If rivian didn't do what it could to deliver as many vehicles as possible as soon as they could, then it would ultimately fail, just as many others have.

 

[Jmiller929]

Wow, very poor planning. Why offer a option you can't produce when promised.

 

[Polecat]

It just seems the easy solution for the OC interior is to give buyers the option to change to the wood veneers offered in the black and green interiors. I believe most would agree that the majority of OC buyers would jump at that. I think the wood trim is the weakest design aspect of OC.

I’m all for almost anything that gets a truck in my garage sooner, but I’d rather not see other people getting screwed over to get it done.

This is probably the easiest solution if it is truly just the wood finish being screwy. I'm mostly in the OC camp for the lighter color seats, so if they offered a dash and trim that was black I would be completely fine with that.

Granted, I'm fine with waiting as my delivery window was Nov-Dec anyway and I'm waiting on finances to line up in August anyway and I'd personally rather see the people waiting for years at this point get their vehicles. But what do I know? I'm just some guy you know?

 

[Trandall]

What I don't understand and doesn't pass a logic test is why are they building and shipping adventure trims?

The only way this makes sense (as at least one other person alluded to) is if they are at the tail end of LE production and need to fill out the batch w/ some adventure rigs. I'm 99% sure that's not the case as there are a lot of LE folks still waiting on contact.

If they were really optimizing they'd ship every launch green truck they have an order for, then they'd never have to go back to that color again. Then they'd go through and batch the other colors - but those batches should all be LE until they get to a point where they can't fill a batch with LE orders.

This idea that somehow they are optimizing to ship more trucks by tossing in adventure trims doesn't pass the giggle test.

What am I missing?

Location.... Specifically proximity to service centers.
It seems orders are being filled by configuration, location, order date. My location I feel prolongs my wait time. I am not thrilled about it but I understand. While some people have particularly unfortunate combination of circumstance, Looking at you Canadian Max Pack, R1S, with Compass Yellow, and Ocean Coast, I instead choose to focus on every R1 delivered is a win for Rivian and gets me closer to the driver seat.
... And yes I understand R1S max pack is no longer a thing.

 

[kvenom]

Man, I have the delay trifecta:

Max Pack
Ocean Coast
Canada

 

[RivianRiverRat]

………see folks that ordered in 2021 (or even January 2022, if today’s Reddit poster is to be believed) getting delivery already.

Wow - 3/4 month turn around is kinda hard to believe

 

[moosehead]

Wow, very poor planning. Why offer an option you can't produce when promised.

 

[NY_Rob]

On the bright side... we OC people should get vehicles with most of the bugs corrected, better fit and finish and more mature software.

Enjoy the summer my OC friends... don't lose sleep over your truck. Once fall comes, you'll have something new and exciting to look forward to!

 

[toade]

I think your analogy is off a bit. It’s more like if you went to the ice cream shop and asked for vanilla in a waffle cone. They tell you they are making more vanilla, but are out for now, would you like to switch to chocolate and have your ice cream now, or wait on the vanilla? If you choose to wait for vanilla, does that mean every customer behind you has to wait to get their ice cream until you get yours?

Just take the chocolate, wait or leave, but don’t be the whiny 5 year old that is shouting and stomping around the ice cream shop saying it’s “just not fair” that you had to change your order or wait longer than someone that just came in wanting chocolate.

Not quite accurate. More like them saying we're out of vanilla, but it shouldn't be long till we have more. Then them constantly saying, it's still being made, still on track to be ready soon. Then hours later telling you, jk, it's going to be days till it's ready.

Had they been more transparent up front, I wouldn't have waited around for hours and would've happily taken chocolate.

 

[Jay565]

LE holder for the R1S, just signed my PBA. My car is locked to OC, now I have to talk with the guide and change to BM. How does Rivian not know OC is delayed until now? People are upset because we signed a PBA, locked an order in, and only 5 days later find out we won’t get the car until Fall. Rivian is proving itself a dishonest company. It’s not just lack of communication. Like how did this forum know last month OC is gonna be delayed and yet the CEO implies there is no delay and then a week later yup there is a delay. Likely more concerned about the stock price than all of us loyal fans.

 

[Zoidz]

Wow, very poor planning. Why offer a option you can't produce when promised.

"The light wood in Ocean Coast is more challenging to produce, so in order to move faster, we are focusing initially on producing with Black Mountain and Forest Edge."

How would the Rivian interior color designers know 18 to 24 months ago that producing this specific color wood in volume was going to be a problem?

 

[Curney1]

LE holder for the R1S, just signed my PBA. My car is locked to OC, now I have to talk with the guide and change to BM. How does Rivian not know OC is delayed until now? People are upset because we signed a PBA, locked an order in, and only 5 days later find out we won’t get the car until Fall. Rivian is proving itself a dishonest company. It’s not just lack of communication. Like how did this forum know last month OC is gonna be delayed and yet the CEO implies there is no delay and then a week later yup there is a delay. Likely more concerned about the stock price than all of us loyal fans.

I have to agree. I guess i'll open up a few short positions to offset the cost of the change from OC to FE.

 

[Attesan997]

LE holder for the R1S, just signed my PBA. My car is locked to OC, now I have to talk with the guide and change to BM. How does Rivian not know OC is delayed until now? People are upset because we signed a PBA, locked an order in, and only 5 days later find out we won’t get the car until Fall. Rivian is proving itself a dishonest company. It’s not just lack of communication. Like how did this forum know last month OC is gonna be delayed and yet the CEO implies there is no delay and then a week later yup there is a delay. Likely more concerned about the stock price than all of us loyal fans.

It's very unfortunate you and others find yourselves here. I'm just not sure why Rivian would allow advanced steps like a PBA if they couldn't actually produce a vehicle in a reasonable amount of time. Hint: Fall isn't a reasonable time frame. To your point It's not like their challenges with OC just came up this month, guides were telling people there was a delay in March. With the small amount of vehicles being produced this year I assumed once you got a guide you were basically at the finish line and it seems that's not the case.

I hope Rivian starts to learn from these miss steps and does something to address decision making in the future. They're only delivering to superfans at this point, what happens when it's not just the fans getting vehicles and they don't get as much of a pass.

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