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Rivian_Hugh_III

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Rivian can’t sell these vehicles at 2018 prices and 2022 costs. I cannot understand how people think they *deserve* a truck sold at a loss for the company.

The 20% increase represents four years of inflation, plus the rise in parts costs over those four years, which according to several people on this board who work in the industry have doubled in many cases.

If you dance with the Configurator you can build a Rivian for just a few thousand more than your earlier estimate. I did it yesterday. Free paint, free wheels, dual motor (600hp and 0-60 in 4s!), sans tonneau, sans adamantium underbody shielding, sans tent and kitchen… all told your Rivian will be in the mid to high $70’s.

Want more? Pay for more. Because it costs more.
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Dark-Fx

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We have, but only in specific cases where it was our mistake and the customer does a lot of business with us already.
 

Rhidan

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Rivian announced the pricing when the configurator went live on November 17, 2020. They are raising prices 20% after only 15 months.
 

JoeCapo

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Rivian can’t sell these vehicles at 2018 prices and 2022 costs. I cannot understand how people think they *deserve* a truck sold at a loss for the company.

The 20% increase represents four years of inflation, plus the rise in parts costs over those four years, which according to several people on this board who work in the industry have doubled in many cases.

If you dance with the Configurator you can build a Rivian for just a few thousand more than your earlier estimate. I did it yesterday. Free paint, free wheels, dual motor (600hp and 0-60 in 4s!), sans tonneau, sans adamantium underbody shielding, sans tent and kitchen… all told your Rivian will be in the mid to high $70’s.

Want more? Pay for more. Because it costs more.
It’s not 4 years of inflation. My order was placed a couple months ago. Try again
 

RforRivian

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Yes, it happens in the gaming industry. Game consoles often cost the company money on every sale for the first couple of years. The idea there is get as many people into the ecosystem as possible and make your money back on software and subscriptions. Rivian has specifically mentioned that they plan to do this. So those of you that are sticking with them, be aware that there will be numerous monthly fees and software packages coming on top of this extreme price hike. Even if the increase is reasonable there is no defending how this was handled.

In my opinion they have poked the bear one to many times and this was the breaking point for apparently around half of the preorder holders.
 

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Rivian_Hugh_III

Rivian_Hugh_III

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Rivian announced the pricing when the configurator went live on November 17, 2020. They are raising prices 20% after only 15 months.
Point taken. I imagine these prices are meant to remain in place for the next year or more, so it may still be intended to cover costs and necessary margins for as many as 30 months from 11-2020.
 

AdamsFan1983

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Unless he’s a corporate accountant for Rivian, he likely has no clue what Rivian’s cost per unit is, and therefore can’t say that the previous prices would have resulted in anything close to a loss.
Incidentally businesses sell products at a loss all the time.

While I don’t for a second think Rivian’s previous pricing was underwater, I’ll point out that auto manufacturers have loss leaders too. The entire dealership model is built in a exceptionally low margin sale, high margin service business model.
 

Diddy123

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Yes, all the time. It seems like you've never worked for a startup. It's one way to build a strong brand and committed, happy customer base.

I suggest reading up a bit on Bezos' position on prioritizing loyalty and innovation over short term profitability.
 

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One of the reasons I expected them to keep the original pricing was because of the money they expected to generate in subscription fees over the life of the vehicle. Insurance, service, their Rivian club, various in-car features that will be locked without a subscription, RAN charging, etc. this was all in the S1.

IIRC the total average earnings generated by these subscriptions and services was $15-20k per vehicle over 7-10 years.

Also, I expect that this price increase is forward projected so as to prevent another large increase in 12-18 months. So we very well could be paying projected Q3 2023 costs.
 

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Rivian_Hugh_III

Rivian_Hugh_III

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Of course there are loss leaders, by definition they are a limited time or limited scope to gain attention and buy in. When you have 80,000 preorders and are producing 200 a week you don’t need loss leaders.

And, those of you in startups selling at a loss for years, were you selling $80,000 products at a loss at a scale of 80,000 units, plus more being reserved every day?

As for me not knowing what I’m talking about unless I’m a Rivian accountant, does it take an insider to see that two year old price projections made before large scale production and record-breaking inflation may need to be revised upward once the realities on the ground are understood?

As for trying to make a larger profit on a world-beating Truck of the year platform that has caught so much attention that preorders are closing on 100,000, yeah they get to make profit. They aren’t devils for pricing a premium product in a premium tier. As I mentioned earlier, there are margins that need to be met. That’s part of the necessary cost per product.

Entitlement is an ugly thing. These prices are reasonable for the value on offer. Those who don’t like it can walk away, but please not with cries of being done wrong. You can still buy a sweet Rivian for a fair price. One you will enjoy for years!
 
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GoWest!

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One of the reasons I expected them to keep the original pricing was because of the money they expected to generate in subscription fees over the life of the vehicle. Insurance, service, their Rivian club, various in-car features that will be locked without a subscription, RAN charging, etc. this was all in the S1.

IIRC the total average earnings generated by these subscriptions and services was $15-20k per vehicle over 7-10 years.

Also, I expect that this price increase is forward projected so as to prevent another large increase in 12-18 months. So we very well could be paying projected Q3 2023 costs.
Oh gosh, I forgot about the subscription fees that we haven’t had visibility to yet.
 

kanundrum

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Sure. Give me 2022 tech (800v) I'll happily pay 25% more. They are selling 2018 tech...
 

timf

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Oh gosh, I forgot about the subscription fees that we haven’t had visibility to yet.
I fully expected the subscription fees to make up for the lower selling price. After the price increase, my only hope is they include more of the subscription services with the vehicle rather than upcharging.
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