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    • Blowback - Rivian CEO reverses decision to increase prices $12,000 for those holding reservations

      The Rivian R1T is a very hot truck right now and very hard to get. It is not hard to see why demand is so high when the Rivian R1T performs so well and is being lauded by testers. In the current automotive climate, prices are rising across the board.


      Rivian announced a couple days ago prices would go up $12,000 and those holding reservations from as far back as 2018 were pissed off and rightfully so.

      The CEO almost immediately reversed course:

      Quote Originally Posted by Rivian
      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.
      It is the right decision to honor their reservation pricing but we also understand pricing from years past no longer applies today. Future Rivian R1T's are likely to get much more expensive.

      This article was originally published in forum thread: Blowback - Rivian CEO reverses decision to increase prices $12,000 for those holding reservations started by Sticky View original post
      Comments 5 Comments
      1. richpike's Avatar
        richpike -
        I was not happy when my R1S pricing went from $81.5K to $97K. But honestly, still not that crazy for a higher-end truck/SUV.

        Attachment 62613

        But super pleased that RJ reversed course and now it’s a no-brainer to get one since any units sold after the fact will be 20% higher.

        -Rich
      1. Sticky's Avatar
        Sticky -
        Click here to enlarge Originally Posted by richpike Click here to enlarge
        But super pleased that RJ reversed course and now it’s a no-brainer to get one since any units sold after the fact will be 20% higher.
        Yep, you pretty much have a car without depreciation now.
      1. richpike's Avatar
        richpike -
        Click here to enlarge Originally Posted by Sticky Click here to enlarge
        Yep, you pretty much have a car without depreciation now.
        If they ship Click here to enlarge I’m also expecting some sort of sales agreement that says I won’t sell for X amount of time. Which is fine. Right now my window is H1 2023, so about a year away. We’ll see.

        -Rich
      1. subaru335i's Avatar
        subaru335i -
        yeah my friend has a reservation for a pretty maxed out R1T and was about to cancel with the price increase but good on them for walking that back lol.
        Although it wasn't out of the goodness of their hearts, I read they saw as much as 60% cancellation rate with the price increase.

        They got greedy and their executives need to take an MBA pricing class to figure out how to set a price increase that people would be able to stomach.
        I bet if they raised it 7-10% because of inflation and component shortage etc they could have gotten away with it but they got greedy with the 20-25% increase and it blew up.

        Personally at $100k I would rather get the EV hummer
      1. Torgus's Avatar
        Torgus -
        I know the cost of lithium batteries for energy storage has increased 20%. So it makes sense.

        Not to mention inflation. 2018 to 2023 is a long time(5 years) to hold a price steady.

        But I agree for 100k get the ev hummer.