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

[frostbit3]

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.

Was "priority delivery" ever defined though? To me, it doesn't mean "we won't ship any other vehicle until all LE's are delivered", more so just that they're making significantly more LE's over Adventure packages until all LE's are finished

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[Jmiller929]

"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?

You would think the supplier would have told them, way before now. I can't imagine this just hit the radar. It is not usual to not offer all the options when introducing a new product, so production is at its peak.

Just a little frustrated, but not the end of world. I will just patiently wait.

 

[MuttB]

I don't have any inside info, but I do know a lot about wood. The wood used in the R1's is Ash. Ash can be very inconsistent in color, having lots of brown throughout and not just the light color you see in OC. It looks like they are using a stain that is something like 80% clear coat and 20% white mix to achieve that Scandinavian feel.(having seen in person) For FE and BM this isn't a problem as you can just use the darker stain over it and it will give you a consistent color throughout while still having that heavy grain of Ash. The problem I could see here is that they would essentially have to be VERY selective with the Ash for OC to get a consistent color. Wood is a natural product and is not normally very consistent. Im not sure how this wouldn't be foreseen ahead of time, but im just offering some thoughts.

 

[Pendarin]

These are factory built vehicles, subject to the demands of factory logistics. They aren't bespoke McLarens. We're paying a lot for a vehicle (relatively), but not that much. Rivian has priorities that are greater than that of pre-order dates, and, at least to me, that's never been unclear. Priority delivery means when all other logistical priorities are met, the pre-order date is then considered. Mixing and matching build configurations beyond what they've always intended (e.g. OC + FE wood) would be anything but simple. Additionally, it sets a precedent for which I don't think Rivian is prepared. It could happen, I'm not counting it out. But it's really unlikely from my perspective.

What's not clear to me is whether this means my delivery estimate moves up. I can speculate that it does, but won't really know until end-of-May, by their timeline.

Nothing was surprising to me about yesterday's communication. It confirmed and clarified some things that were speculated on or rumored. This is a roller coaster of a car purchase, but not an entirely unexpected one. (I mean, how many of us have ever "pre-ordered" a vehicle? From a new car manufacturer? I know I haven't, either one.) I feel for the OC interior folks that are disappointed right now, as I would be--and was, when I originally learned FE was the end of the pack (and now isn't, I guess?).

But let's not let entitlement get the best of us, yeah?

 

[junkanoo]

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.

This. Many of us didn't say much when posters said they had a signed PBA for an Ocean Toast ... we were (a) rooting for them and (b) didn't want to rain our their parade. However, we knew they were toast.

I fully believe that there are many great people working at Rivian. But, flat out, the problem is at the top. Rather than honest, forthright communication, we get Rivianese. And those poor Guides are forced to stick to their scripts to keep their jobs. Those at the top know the proper thing to do but don't do it because they lack true leadership which shows in their lack of character.

It reminds me of the Colonel's speech in the film Scent of a Woman .... invariably he knew what the "right path was" but didn't take it ... because it was "too damn hard." Rivian top brass should watch this clip ...

 

[cohall]

For those who've signed the PBA with Ocean Coast...

Is there still a chance that they've produced a certain amount of vehicles with OC already? Or, that they have enough acceptable OC wood panels to produce the few OCs that have gotten the PBAs?

I'm holding out hope for those of you in this situation that there's still potential you'll get your vehicles before fall.

 

[Zoidz]

A couple of thoughts:

- There's been a lot of complaining about Rivian not providing detailed communication. Now they provide one of the most detailed communications to date, and there's still plenting of complaining. I say "kudos to Rivian" for this transparent announcement. I hope we see more like this, even if it pisses the masses off.

- Is it unfair that Adventures are shipping before all LEs? Let's look at that another way. Would it be fair to thousands of employees and stock holders to layoff everyone, and shut down the factory for 6 months, and then go through a rehiring process, just so IN THE NAME OF FAIRNESS all LE orders with OC get fullfilled before the very first Adventure? Hypothetical Rivian announcement Jan 2023: "We regret that we are filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy today due to low sales and cash flow, but dammit all, we upheld our commitment, come hell, high water or bankruptcy, to ship all LEs first."

- What did you expect when you placed your order with a startup company? The painful truth is there are some pretty naive people here that should not have placed orders. I have a high tolerance for what Rivian is going through right now because I have seen these problems time and time again in start up factories, and have "invested" in a number of Kickstarter campaigns. This risk of delay, failure and unfair delivery results goes with the territory when you place an order with a startup, like it or not.

 

[SoCal Rob]

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.

How did they not know? I can’t speak for Rivian, but I can imagine a couple things which would cause this.
1. Internal communication issues. If the problem was being discussed last month at a low level in the company but the issue wasn’t passed up the organization, then it’s easy to see how news of a problem with OC could leak from the bottom of the organization and denial of the problem could be coming from the top.
2. Being overly optimistic. If there were discussions of problems with OC wood last month at most or all levels of the organization, they went to the supplier with the problem (as an example, maybe the wood was too yellow), and they just received the next batch only to discover that the same problem exists (still too yellow) or they created a new problem (now it’s too red) then they only just found out that what should have solved the problem didn’t. I understand why a company, especially a new company with supply chain issues added to the mix, would want to project an air of calm for customers and Wall Street alike. However, this doesn’t work really well when you publicly state a goal of under promise and over deliver.

If either or both of these scenarios occurred then either 1) the right people didn’t know about the issue at all or 2) they suspected the problem was fixed but didn’t KNOW if it was fixed or not until recently.

 

[mgc0216]

There were plenty of early preorders that missed the launch edition order window, so I get those customers receiving trucks earlier, but that doesn't seem to be the case entirely.

I agree with this sentiment, but it's not part of Rivian's stated reasoning nor is it what is happening.

 

[Tango45]

You're not wrong, per se, but you are missing the last panel...

 

[Curney1]

For those who've signed the PBA with Ocean Coast...

Is there still a chance that they've produced a certain amount of vehicles with OC already? Or, that they have enough acceptable OC wood panels to produce the few OCs that have gotten the PBAs?

I'm holding out hope for those of you in this situation that there's still potential you'll get your vehicles before fall.

same boat. I doubt it... weak sause. I texted my guide and have not heard back yet

 

[timf]

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 solution has been suggested repeatedly but would not be as easy as it sounds. Sure, you could install Ocean Coast seats with a different color dashboard trim. The problem is the door panels, center console, and steering wheel contain both the wood trim and color matched vegan leather. These pieces surely arrive at the factory pre-assembled and could not easily be swapped to have darker wood with the gray vegan leather.

 

[rodhx]

I suppose Rivian should have avoided all of this by just going the route Ford chose with the Lightning & Maverick...no interior choices at all. Pick your trim, live with how it comes.

Or make it easy on themselves with a synthetic dash material they can control since they are already using "not leather" ?

 

[SoCal Rob]

A couple of thoughts:

- There's been a lot of complaining about Rivian not providing detailed communication. Now they provide one of the most detailed communications to date, and there's still plenting of complaining. I say "kudos to Rivian" for this transparent announcement. I hope we see more like this, even if it pisses the masses off.

- Is it unfair that Adventures are shipping before all LEs? Let's look at that another way. Would it be fair to thousands of employees and stock holders to layoff everyone, and shut down the factory for 6 months, and then go through a rehiring process, just so IN THE NAME OF FAIRNESS all LE orders with OC get fullfilled before the very first Adventure? Hypothetical Rivian announcement Jan 2023: "We regret that we are filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy today due to low sales and cash flow, but dammit all, we upheld our commitment, come hell, high water or bankruptcy, to ship all LEs first."

- What did you expect when you placed your order with a startup company? The painful truth is there are some pretty naive people here that should not have placed orders. I have a high tolerance for what Rivian is going through right now because I have seen these problems time and time again in start up factories, and have "invested" in a number of Kickstarter campaigns. This risk of delay, failure and unfair delivery results goes with the territory when you place an order with a startup, like it or not.

You summed up what I’ve been thinking perfectly!!!

Also, we all need to keep in mind that a big part of the reason we early adopters got to hold onto our lower pricing was because we signed up for the experience of buying a new product from a new company. None of us should be surprised by delays, QC issues which will be eliminated for later purchasers as knowledge is gained, and incomplete software. For those who reserved before March of 2020, later on you got to add production issues during a pandemic to the usual startup issues. Those of us who configured and reserved after that went into the process knowing about the extra complication.

 

[Zoidz]

You're not wrong, per se, but you are missing the last panel...

lol, I intentionally omitted that last panel, because it's not the way *I* think.

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