R1T & R1S Updated Pricing, Configuration, Specs. Dual Motor Now Available

[mightypile]

I'm no stock wizard by any means, but aside from your general annoyance with the company as an order holder wouldn't this actually be a GOOD thing for your stock in the long run? They have pissed off a bunch of people, but they will replace those of us who maybe can't afford their vehicle now with people who can. And they will be profitable much quicker than anticipated.

My frustration as a stockholder is that rivian invested heavily in building a brand that was interested in a relationship with its customers (a good smart thing to invest in). Their prospectus talks about making more from monthly memberships and things that are dependent upon good will than they do on the sale of the vehicle. I fear they just burned all the goodwill they worked so hard to build, and they burned it with the most valuable customers who have shown they want that relationship.

If you assume 70k reservations, maybe you lose half, half stick with you and pay the extra $15k on average, that's about $500 million. Lots of money, but after pulling in 20x that in their IPO, if I were CEO, I'd eat that cost to buy the goodwill, brand positivity, word of mouth, etc. I fear Rivian just made their biggest error so far, and I say that as a stockholder more than a customer.

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[Craigins]

Rivian's biggest mistakes:

1) Being baited by Elon to lower the 75k entry price to 67.5k
2) Not gradually adjusting the entry price based on inflation/market, at least once a year
3) Not scheduling a maintenance window for their cancellation process for this evening.

Probably many emotional knee jerk reaction cancellations that could have been saved if they forced people to take a day and sleep on it.

 

[kanundrum]

 

[CarterGee]

Edit: Would you have continued if you were hit with a minimum $12,000 price increase?

I would have. And not just because I sold my 4Runner already and desperately need a truck. I could afford that price, though I probably would have complained pretty intensely to see if there was anything the company could do.

I still don't think there's anything like the R1T and I thought it was extremely well priced initially. So... yeah. I would keep.

 

[1973LT]

It’s a 2018 vehicle …..

It wasn't priced in 2018. That happened in 2021.

 

[Zoidz]

I'm not surprised at the increase. In reality it represents roughly actual inflation, keeping in mind that many materials and labor costs have EXCEEDED the averages shown in the chart below. I've seen these issues in my businesses and have had to make many business adjustments to deal with increases in unavoidable employee compensation increases and higher cost of raw materials/goods. I totally get that part, Rivian.

I'm disappointed that it was so poorly handled. This PR disaster could have been avoided or softened in several ways and they totally, completely blew it.

I'm haunted by the fact that Laura Scwab (VP of Sales that was fired) stated that they were underpriced, and RJ and Company knew it. They COULD have had a more modest price increase back then, perhaps several, communicating the issues along the way, had a policy to deal with price increases, etc. And so that makes me question RJ's and the rest of the executives motives, values and customer commitment.

"Schwab said she warned executives that Rivian’s vehicles were underpriced but she was rebuffed. Behl later agreed Rivian would need to raise vehicle prices after a male executive raised the issue with him, the lawsuit states."

I'm guessing that more than likely analyzed the financial and PR impact of this heavily before making the decision. They didn't do this haphazardly.

I can financially afford my R1S 20% increase. But that's not the issue. The issues are:
1) Value Proposition - I'm not sure I can justify it anymore, compared to the F150 and the EValanche

2) Company Viability - Has this irreversibly damage the company to the point they will not survive? Some of this is part of the Value Proposition question.

3) Trust - Do I trust anything they say anymore?

I'll keep my reservation in place. I also have reservations in place for the F150 Lightning and the EValanche. No delivery contact from any of them. It's by no means a sure thing that I will take delivery when (IF, that's the first time I've said that) Rivian contacts me. I have some time to think about this mess and see where this goes in the next few months. But it looks like my 4Q2022 delivery date may move up, based on the number of Rivian cancellations taking place.

Really disappointed in how this was handled, RJ. I thought you were better than this.

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

Rivian's biggest mistakes:

1) Being baited by Elon to lower the 75k entry price to 67.5k
2) Not gradually adjusting the entry price based on inflation/market, at least once a year
3) Not scheduling a maintenance window for their cancellation process for this evening.

Probably many emotional knee jerk reaction cancellations that could have been saved if they forced people to take a day and sleep on it.

Agree with these points. The $39k Cybertruck was never going to be a thing. Rivian pulled a rookie move by announcing the pricing that they did after Tesla grabbed all the headlines and now they will pay the price. By the time Rivian had a chance to look at Ford and Chevy's price book, it was too late.

It's like a rookie poker player catching 3 of a kind on the river and going all in, not realizing that 2 other players at the table just caught a flush.

 

[Joe schmoe]

Nope, my 2019 order appears to be affected. I’m really unhappy about this.

I was a fairly early adopter of Tesla, long before the supercharger network was built out. I took a risk on them, and have been very happy with the car. Tesla, for the company’s faults, has always honored pricing at the time of the order, even though there was boilerplate allowing them an “out.” As an early adopter, I continue to enjoy perks like free unlimited supercharging when I travel with the car, and free premium connectivity. It certainly hasn’t been perfect, but they’ve been really good overall IMHO.

i also have an early cybertruck reservation, and now may wind up going in that direction, or just buying a plaid.

as a shareholder, I’m troubled by the public relations mistake of angering the early preorder holders. They’re giving up a lot of free goodwill and publicity.

According to @Diddy123 it looks like 2019 orders might have escaped the price hike.

 

[Canthoney]

I'm definitely scared to comment here ?

But before I share, I just wanted to say that I feel for everyone affected by the price increases. Even if you knew it could happen, it sucks to hear this so close to delivery - especially if you need a new vehicle or got rid of you old one.

I got very, very lucky.

I think this is kind of BS that they’re doing it this way, they should have kept ALL of the Launch Edition prices the same, and anyone who had placed a pre-order up into a certain point because now there are people who have orders from 2018, 2019 that are being hit with the price increases because of where they’re located at.

The way they did this was a complete sh*tshow and is only going create resentment towards the brand and other people who got their truck early, and got the price they advertised the day before.

I am waiting to see how they react to all of the criticism and vitriol that’s being directed at them currently before I cancel, but I may end up getting a BMW iX or something equivalent to the R1S. It’s really a shame, my son asked me about this car every day and when we’re going to go camping but I can’t trust a company that does something like this at the last second.

it really makes me think that what Laura Schwab said in her lawsuit may be true as well because she mentioned some thing about the cars being way underpriced, and the leaders not listening to her on the cost. Something to consider

 

[Surferdude]

I'm definitely scared to comment here ?

But before I share, I just wanted to say that I feel for everyone affected by the price increases. Even if you knew it could happen, it sucks to hear this so close to delivery - especially if you need a new vehicle or got rid of you old one.

I got very, very lucky.

Do you mind sharing what reservation number you were? I was in the first couple thousand on release day and I was hit with the huge increase. It would be extremely unfair if early adopters are getting price increases when those that reserved a vehicle later are not.

 

[radiopaul65]

This sucks, but isn't a surprise. The price on the Rivian configurator hasn't changed since before the pandemic, yet clearly everywhere prices have gone up.

What really sucks though, is if the few that have received their truck paid less than the rest of us will, like me who had a pre-order back in November 2018!

It would seem to make more sense to take orders placed after, say the September 2021, to pay the higher price and those that put our money down 3 years ago should pay the price shown to us before the increases.

Just my 2 cents

 

[Sparkie]

What a HUGE disappointment...I've been a pre-holder since 11/26/2018. Was thrilled to hear about the vehicle and the commitment to a better environment and concerns for global warming. I had no reservations in putting money down on the vehicle. Waited years to see production begin and then was understanding when the delays occurred. Given uncontrolled circumstances. Then finding out that even though I was a EARLY pre-holder but lived in Florida that my deliver was going to be even later; April/May. This is makes it even more frustrating that those whom are LE holders and live in areas that were Riven decided to delay delivers and ends up costing ME more....and now they want to charge me because I selected WHITE...REALLY...wtf...lets be fair ...honor those that have waited all these years to give your product a try....beginning to wonder if it's worth it. Whats next...a delivery charge????

 

[epona]

yep, looks like i'm out too. my $85k R1T adventure jumped to $101k. i can't swing that. pretty bummed.

 

[GoWest!]

My price increase just showed up in my configurator. $14k increase on my LE R1S 10/19 reservation.

Honestly, with everything that’s been going on in the world the last 2 1/2 years and what is going on currently, I find I don’t care as much about the Rivian as I did 3 years ago. I’ve just got different priorities these days as apparently does Rivian.

Rivian’s had a 3-4 year interest-free loan on reservation dollars followed by wicked IPO succcess with even more of our money. Well played Rivian, well played.

Lots of lessons these days about strength, integrity and character. When they show you who they are (lack of communication, constantly changing what options are included in the pricing - meaning less and less, continued delivery delays and now inordinate price increases), well shoot, I really should believe them.

They’re Rivian.

 

[1973LT]

I ordered in 2019. $10k price increase over what I was told a year ago 2 months before I am supposed to take delivery and no vaseline?

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