? RJ's Letter -- Making it Right -- REVERSING THE PRICE CHANGE FOR PREORDER HOLDERS

[dixosw]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Rivian mail out some free swag to reservation holders to help regain their trust and apologize for their "not thought through" price increase mistake.

My trust will be fully regained if they throw in one of those cool factory wraps.

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[epradox]

Boy I hope that's real.

no way... this alone is a reason id go for it over a tesla with their constant ui changes. ive been through v9-v10 change which shrunk the map, expanded visualization for whatever that was worth and the ui elements were slightly misaligned enough to annoy the ocd in me. now v10-v11 is a totally new change that my muscle memory for important car functions while driving totally has to be relearned... just give me carplay and bugger off with this new ui every year nonsense

 

[sk00pie]

Does the original pricing apply to only those who have been allowed to officially order? Or to everyone who's placed the $1k reservation pre 3/1?

 

[LDC]

Regarding the price increase, I don't see the "corrected" pre-order price when I log into my account... it now says my estimated price for the R1S is over $100,000!! Do others have the original pre-order price listed in their accounts, or do they have the new (outrageous) price listed?

 

[Lil'Dave]

Tesla just sent me a promo code for free mudflaps and pdf for my fenders. Coincidence or being sneaky?

 

[LaunchGreen]

I think they compensated properly, but not over compensated. However, i do not think they need to over over compensate, they have some shareholders to please after the dip in stocks.

Go build a model x and then think about whether they over compensated. A reasonable solution would have been a smaller increase for pre-holders (or discount on new pricing), but we are now being sold vehicles well below value. To me, that's over compensating, but doesn't really matter at this point. Anyone that cancels now probably wasn't going to complete their order anyways.

 

[LaunchGreen]

Regarding the price increase, I don't see the "corrected" pre-order price when I log into my account... it now says my estimated price for the R1S is over $100,000!! Do others have the original pre-order price listed in their accounts, or do they have the new (outrageous) price listed?

ya, they said it will take a few days.

 

[LaunchGreen]

Does the original pricing apply to only those who have been allowed to officially order? Or to everyone who's placed the $1k reservation pre 3/1?

Fail to understand how their email is confusing

For anyone with a Rivian preorder as of the March 1 pricing announcement, your original configured price will be honored.

 

[LDC]

ya, they said it will take a few days.

Thanks, I was worried because my configuration changed (5 seat which has now been changed to 7 seat only).

 

[COLO-R1T]

Hello Everyone, Earlier this week, we announced pricing increases that broke the trust we have worked to build with you. Since originally setting our pricing structure, and most especially in recent months, a lot has changed. The costs of the components and materials that go into building our vehicles have risen considerably. Everything from semiconductors to sheet metal to seats has become more expensive and with this we have seen average new vehicle pricing across the U.S. rise more than 30% since 2018. Given our build lead up times, we need to plan production costs not only for today, but also for the future. As we worked to update pricing to reflect these cost increases, we wrongly decided to make these changes apply to all future deliveries, including pre-existing configured preorders. We failed to appreciate how you viewed your configuration as price locked, and we wrongly assumed the announced Dual-Motor and Standard battery pack would provide configurations that would deliver price points similar to your original configuration. While this was the logic, it was wrong and we broke your trust in Rivian. We also didn’t manage communications well. We didn’t give you enough insight into what was driving these decisions. The most important aspect of what we are building is our relationship with all of you. As we demonstrated earlier this week, trust is hard to build and easy to break. In speaking with many of you over the last two days, I fully realize and acknowledge how upset many of you felt. I have made a lot of mistakes since starting Rivian more than 12 years ago, but this one has been the most painful. I am truly sorry and committed to rebuilding your trust. One of the things we talk about a lot internally is that we will make mistakes – it’s part of building something complex. The key is to learn from them and address them when they are made. It is how we grow. We made a mistake in how we approached our pricing changes, and what is important now is that we fix it. For anyone with a Rivian preorder as of the March 1 pricing announcement, your original configured price will be honored. If you canceled your preorder on or after March 1 and would like to reinstate it, we will restore your original configuration, pricing and delivery timing. Our team will be sending an email in the next few days with more details. Regarding our updated pricing for future preorders, the introduction of our Dual-Motor configuration and Standard battery pack has been designed to enable us to maintain lower starting prices while adjusting the pricing of the Quad-Motor and larger battery packs to reflect rising costs. Building a durable business is core to the continued impact we can deliver as a company. We are focused on building a brand and products that will continue to scale to different vehicle sizes, use cases, price points and markets – this growth will only be possible with your support and continued feedback. Thank you for the personal notes and discussions I had with so many of you. Your feedback makes us better. RJ​

I hadn’t canceled my preorder and was trying to decide if the dual motor would work. I was going to wait for more real world views on that before I jumped. I understood and expected some kind of increase but not that much. Glad they decided to honor early pricing. Now I get to have my quad motor Adventure instead of a dual with a decent battery Win win!

 

[jopro42]

I just got off an online chat with Rivian Support. They said there's a team holed up in a conference room "brewing coffee and stress eating cookies" to figure out how to get the configuration changes that some people made rolled back, reinstate cancelled preorders, and get the online site to reflect original pricing.

I don't envy them the task ahead of them.

 

[SANZC02]

Thanks, I was worried because my configuration changed (5 seat which has now been changed to 7 seat only).

I do not think you will get the 5 seat option but the original price will be honored. Looks like they made a decision to remove the 5 seat configuration.

 

[RWerksman]

I just got off an online chat with Rivian Support. They said there's a team holed up in a conference room "brewing coffee and stress eating cookies" to figure out how to get the configuration changes that some people made rolled back, reinstate cancelled preorders, and get the online site to reflect original pricing.

I don't envy them the task ahead of them.

This is fabulous.

 

[E.S.]

I do not think you will get the 5 seat option but the original price will be honored. Looks like they made a decision to remove the 5 seat configuration.

I am curious regarding the 7 seat configuration. To all those wanting a 5 seater. If the 7 seater's rear seats are foldable, why the concern in getting it over the 5 seater? Last I check there wasn't a price difference between the two and space will be the same.

 

[ceetiger]

Hello Everyone, Earlier this week, we announced pricing increases that broke the trust we have worked to build with you. Since originally setting our pricing structure, and most especially in recent months, a lot has changed. The costs of the components and materials that go into building our vehicles have risen considerably. Everything from semiconductors to sheet metal to seats has become more expensive and with this we have seen average new vehicle pricing across the U.S. rise more than 30% since 2018. Given our build lead up times, we need to plan production costs not only for today, but also for the future. As we worked to update pricing to reflect these cost increases, we wrongly decided to make these changes apply to all future deliveries, including pre-existing configured preorders. We failed to appreciate how you viewed your configuration as price locked, and we wrongly assumed the announced Dual-Motor and Standard battery pack would provide configurations that would deliver price points similar to your original configuration. While this was the logic, it was wrong and we broke your trust in Rivian. We also didn’t manage communications well. We didn’t give you enough insight into what was driving these decisions. The most important aspect of what we are building is our relationship with all of you. As we demonstrated earlier this week, trust is hard to build and easy to break. In speaking with many of you over the last two days, I fully realize and acknowledge how upset many of you felt. I have made a lot of mistakes since starting Rivian more than 12 years ago, but this one has been the most painful. I am truly sorry and committed to rebuilding your trust. One of the things we talk about a lot internally is that we will make mistakes – it’s part of building something complex. The key is to learn from them and address them when they are made. It is how we grow. We made a mistake in how we approached our pricing changes, and what is important now is that we fix it. For anyone with a Rivian preorder as of the March 1 pricing announcement, your original configured price will be honored. If you canceled your preorder on or after March 1 and would like to reinstate it, we will restore your original configuration, pricing and delivery timing. Our team will be sending an email in the next few days with more details. Regarding our updated pricing for future preorders, the introduction of our Dual-Motor configuration and Standard battery pack has been designed to enable us to maintain lower starting prices while adjusting the pricing of the Quad-Motor and larger battery packs to reflect rising costs. Building a durable business is core to the continued impact we can deliver as a company. We are focused on building a brand and products that will continue to scale to different vehicle sizes, use cases, price points and markets – this growth will only be possible with your support and continued feedback. Thank you for the personal notes and discussions I had with so many of you. Your feedback makes us better. RJ​

This is great news, RJ - thank you for rethinking this. Now please rethink the requirement for 3rd row seating in the R1S. I do not need it, and I am sure many others feel the same way. Save
Rivian a few more bucks by not having to buy unused seats.

ceetiger

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