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Coast2Coast

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With a new V.P. of Marketing and Sales, Laura Schwab, let's hope she can orchestrate new levels of openness, PR and frequent release of new information about Rivian. She was hired a little late in the game for my money, but let's hope she has the resources and clout to start a marketing storm.

Rivian is a super engineering centric company, and that's been a good thing, but we're moving into entirely new phases of company evolution. The product is fully engineered or nearly so and we're moving into early production.

Selling it becomes the issue now. Even if Rivian is production constrained at present and can sell everything it makes, that's not always going to be the case, once Normal really begins to turn out vehicles and competition from GM, Ford, Tesla and others begin production of their BEV trucks.

Word of mouth worked fine for Tesla, but we're in an entirely different market situation now. As @Whmorken says above, give us a headline and back story everyday. Great companies require great PR, sales, service and marketing too.
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Rhidan

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The reality in marketing for Rivian today is that no news about Rivian is worse than bad news. Their silence kills anticipation in potential buyers. What worked in the early years does not work after unveiling the product. Give us a headline a day or a headline plus one backstory.
Yeah, good point. They don't have to suddenly flood us with all information (most of us understand it isn't all available and final), but put out a blog post detailing a single thing that is locked down at this point. The roof comes to mind. The plan for EPA testing with different wheel and tire options (not the mileage, just the timeline). A couple definitive RAN locations. A real photo of launch green.

You suggested daily, I'd be happy with a new post once a week.
The silence also kills in 2020. I planned to go to the event in Boulder this summer that was cancelled. I have yet to see the vehicles in person. Wish they did some virtual “walk around” where they showed the truck and the internet could ask questions.

I understand some hesitation about releasing specs and numbers given the whole Nikola situation. But they should be able to talk more about production-intent features at this point, e.g. the speaker lantern, the tonneau covers, different driving modes, the ongoing testing. If these are being sold next June, I would expect more regular updates.

Im at least hoping they drop something on the holidays like they did last year with the tank turn video.
 

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Rivian's vision of intending to only announce stuff on their own schedule and when it's ready, unlike every other trendy or struggling company, is so bad that they've only been given $6 billion in investment by merely asking.
 

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Yeah, good point. They don't have to suddenly flood us with all information (most of us understand it isn't all available and final), but put out a blog post detailing a single thing that is locked down at this point. The roof comes to mind. The plan for EPA testing with different wheel and tire options (not the mileage, just the timeline). A couple definitive RAN locations. A real photo of launch green.

You suggested daily, I'd be happy with a new post once a week.
2 or 3 a week minimum. Optimum, an occasional barrage works too. Just check out Teslarati.com for a good model that keeps you on your toes just to keep up.
 

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The silence also kills in 2020. I planned to go to the event in Boulder this summer that was cancelled. I have yet to see the vehicles in person. Wish they did some virtual “walk around” where they showed the truck and the internet could ask questions.

I understand some hesitation about releasing specs and numbers given the whole Nikola situation. But they should be able to talk more about production-intent features at this point, e.g. the speaker lantern, the tonneau covers, different driving modes, the ongoing testing. If these are being sold next June, I would expect more regular updates.

Im at least hoping they drop something on the holidays like they did last year with the tank turn video.
So true, so true.
 

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With a new V.P. of Marketing and Sales, Laura Schwab, let's hope she can orchestrate new levels of openness, PR and frequent release of new information about Rivian. She was hired a little late in the game for my money, but let's hope she has the resources and clout to start a marketing storm.

Rivian is a super engineering centric company, and that's been a good thing, but we're moving into entirely new phases of company evolution. The product is fully engineered or nearly so and we're moving into early production.

Selling it becomes the issue now. Even if Rivian is production constrained at present and can sell everything it makes, that's not always going to be the case, once Normal really begins to turn out vehicles and competition from GM, Ford, Tesla and others begin production of their BEV trucks.

Word of mouth worked fine for Tesla, but we're in an entirely different market situation now. As @Whmorken says above, give us a headline and back story everyday. Great companies require great PR, sales and marketing too.
Excellent. Keep pushing! Go Schwab.
 

Whmorken

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Rivian's vision of intending to only announce stuff on their own schedule and when it's ready, unlike every other trendy or struggling company, is so bad that they've only been given $6 billion in investment by merely asking.
Rivian’s vision and execution warrant the investment. Customer care and sales efforts are wholly different. With all the new competition coming Rivian is in serious danger of getting left in the dust even with Amazon investment and purchases — see Volkswagen as just one example. Hopefully their early start will link to rapid momentum going forward because exponential growth must happen for Rivian to survive more than a few years, and without it they will be bought.
 

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There will be big competition from GM, they have set a target to sell 1 million EVs in 2025. I am sure Ford has similar goals and they are now coming out with mulitple EV offerings as well.
 

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There will be big competition from GM, they have set a target to sell 1 million EVs in 2025. I am sure Ford has similar goals and they are now coming out with mulitple EV offerings as well.
In October 2017, GM promised two new EVs within 18 months and 20 new EVs within five years. Currently, GM sells one battery-electric vehicle in the US, the Chevy Bolt, which it was also selling prior to that promise. ...
 

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There will be big competition from GM, they have set a target to sell 1 million EVs in 2025. I am sure Ford has similar goals and they are now coming out with mulitple EV offerings as well.
Spot on. Rivian will have a roll to play but most likely serving/contracting with other companies using their technology or as a part of one of the Big’s. Many, as I do, wish they could preserve their independence.
 

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azbill

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In October 2017, GM promised two new EVs within 18 months and 20 new EVs within five years. Currently, GM sells one battery-electric vehicle in the US, the Chevy Bolt, which it was also selling prior to that promise. ...
I agree they have slipped their schedule, but currently they have 3 new vehciles coming in 21-22 timeframe, plus a brand new battery plant.

- Cadillac Lyric
- GMC Hummer
- Bolt EUV

Of course they are not the only car maker to over promise and under deliver, as we have seen.
 

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Some of these arguments seem predicated on the idea of zero-sum. It seems better to think of it as sustainable business practices. If Rivian can balance the number of consumer vehicles and fleet vehicles to maintain profit and momentum, they will never have to compete with GM or Ford in number of sales. They could potentially be a much smaller player that still has happy customers and cool products. So instead of a million cars a year as a goal they may target 100k consumer vehicles and 50k fleet or RV vehicles for a very solid business for the first five or ten years. Total dominance in a market is not the vibe Rivian seems to be going for.
 

Coast2Coast

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As @Mjhirsch78 points out, Rivian is not really in competition with GM and Ford in terms of numbers of units sold, but Rivian is a rival in terms of setting the tone and direction of the auto market, especially for BEVs. How big can Rivian be and be independent? Quite large, I suspect.

In 2019, Tesla sold 367,500 vehicles, Jaguar Range Rover sold 579,000, Subaru USA sold 700,117, and BMW 2.5 million. There's lots of room for Rivian to run.

The Normal plant's capacity is about 250,000 units or at least it was under Mitsubishi Motors. Rivian has added more square footage, but its vehicles, including trucks and vans, are larger, so I doubt capacity will exceed 250,000 units. Long before capacity is reached, which will come in the latter part of the decade, Rivian will have opened another plant, probably overseas. RJ has mentioned Europe and China as places he wants Rivian to go.

So, first, Rivian will likely be production-constrained for quite a while. Even Jaguar Range Rover, a relatively low volume, high margin maker sells a half-million units a year. Second, in spite of small volumes, Rivian's impact on the market will be outsized. The R1T and R1S will be the first fully electric pickup and SUV brought to market. The Amazon vans will get lots of press and exposure. Emme Hall and Hannah Elliott are already beating the drum.

Rivian will be setting the market in terms of what high end BEVs can be, at least in N. America. But what's the vision? That's unclear. RJ is no Elon, and that's a good thing, but so far there's an absence of the big view, the long range plan and even marketing, sales, service, PR and other details for the R1T and R1S which are a half-year away from production.

Rivian is a engineering driven company and that's also a good thing. Most startups are engineering driven. Heck, even Tesla, which will soon be selling a half-million vehicles a year, is engineering driven. But I've been hoping for and expecting more from Rivian.

It's the vision thing or lack thereof. Something more than keep the world adventurous forever. That's okay. That's a start. That will get thirty thousand folks or so to preorder, and that will take the company through the first year or two of production and sales. But I'd like to see more.

A vision of sustainable transportation without giving up performance and capability. Something about batteries and partnering around batteries because they're the key. And charging stations because we can't do much without'em.

I've been feeling lost with respect to what Rivian wants to do in terms of the big picture. Yes, get the LE trucks out the door. Yes, get the 41 service centers set up. Yes, get the RAN network established. Yes, get the max pack into production. Yes, to all of that and more, and all of that firmly establishes Rivian as a leader in the BEV vehicle space.

What I'm missing is a voice that sets the tone, that creates a vision, that mobilizes and focuses resources on what needs to happen to make transportation better, cleaner, more sustainable. Yes, that's asking for a lot, but I hope and have a sneaky suspicion Rivian and RJ are up to the task.
 

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Some of these arguments seem predicated on the idea of zero-sum. It seems better to think of it as sustainable business practices. If Rivian can balance the number of consumer vehicles and fleet vehicles to maintain profit and momentum, they will never have to compete with GM or Ford in number of sales. They could potentially be a much smaller player that still has happy customers and cool products. So instead of a million cars a year as a goal they may target 100k consumer vehicles and 50k fleet or RV vehicles for a very solid business for the first five or ten years. Total dominance in a market is not the vibe Rivian seems to be going for.
Well said, preserves their innovative role that can benefit any and all BEV.
 

Whmorken

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As @Mjhirsch78 points out, Rivian is not really in competition with GM and Ford in terms of numbers of units sold, but Rivian is a rival in terms of setting the tone and direction of the auto market, especially for BEVs. How big can Rivian be and be independent? Quite large, I suspect.

In 2019, Tesla sold 367,500 vehicles, Jaguar Range Rover sold 579,000, Subaru USA sold 700,117, and BMW 2.5 million. There's lots of room for Rivian to run.

The Normal plant's capacity is about 250,000 units or at least it was under Mitsubishi Motors. Rivian has added more square footage, but its vehicles, including trucks and vans, are larger, so I doubt capacity will exceed 250,000 units. Long before capacity is reached, which will come in the latter part of the decade, Rivian will have opened another plant, probably overseas. RJ has mentioned Europe and China as places he wants Rivian to go.

So, first, Rivian will likely be production-constrained for quite a while. Even Jaguar Range Rover, a relatively low volume, high margin maker sells a half-million units a year. Second, in spite of small volumes, Rivian's impact on the market will be outsized. The R1T and R1S will be the first fully electric pickup and SUV brought to market. The Amazon vans will get lots of press and exposure. Emme Hall and Hannah Elliott are already beating the drum.

Rivian will be setting the market in terms of what high end BEVs can be, at least in N. America. But what's the vision? That's unclear. RJ is no Elon, and that's a good thing, but so far there's an absence of the big view, the long range plan and even marketing, sales, service, PR and other details for the R1T and R1S which are a half-year away from production.

Rivian is a engineering driven company and that's also a good thing. Most startups are engineering driven. Heck, even Tesla, which will soon be selling a half-million vehicles a year, is engineering driven. But I've been hoping for and expecting more from Rivian.

It's the vision thing or lack thereof. Something more than keep the world adventurous forever. That's okay. That's a start. That will get thirty thousand folks or so to preorder, and that will take the company through the first year or two of production and sales. But I'd like to see more.

A vision of sustainable transportation without giving up performance and capability. Something about batteries and partnering around batteries because they're the key. And charging stations because we can't do much without'em.

I've been feeling lost with respect to what Rivian wants to do in terms of the big picture. Yes, get the LE trucks out the door. Yes, get the 41 service centers set up. Yes, get the RAN network established. Yes, get the max pack into production. Yes, to all of that and more, and all of that firmly establishes Rivian as a leader in the BEV vehicle space.

What I'm missing is a voice that sets the tone, that creates a vision, that mobilizes and focuses resources on what needs to happen to make transportation better, cleaner, more sustainable. Yes, that's asking for a lot, but I hope and have a sneaky suspicion Rivian and RJ are up to the task.
Terrific post on all counts. Leadership called for....
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