Friday, March 29

Rivian increases the prices of its models, then retracts | Digital Trends Spanish


This week Rivian notified reservation holders for their vehicles that they would be affected by a significant price increasewhich in some cases could reach $20,000.

As a result of the reaction of buyers affected by the increases, who began to cancel their reservations en masse, Rivian backed down on the plan. A new notification from the company sent on Thursday March 3, the company says that they will honor the original price for reservations made before March 1.

RJ Scaringe, CEO of Rivian, admitted in a letter to customers that the price increases “broke the trust we had worked to create with you.” The company will also allow the reinstatement of reservations that had been canceled in reaction to the increases, respecting the original price and delivery time.

Rivian R1T

By October, when the first units of the long-awaited Rivian R1T electric pickup finally rolled out onto North American asphalt, Rivian had amassed a total of 48,390 reservations with deposits of $1,000 each, for the R1T and its SUV version. the R1S, which is not yet being produced. Although it may not sound particularly high, that number is very important for a company with no history that at the time of its initial public offering of its shares in November declared a $1 billion operating loss.

Not big enough, though, not to surprise its customers with the nasty surprise of a $6,000 price increase on the four-engine variant of the R1T, the only one offered initially, which would affect existing reservation holders.

To make matters worse, those people who had booked regular battery four-motor trucks would have to opt for the extended-range battery for $6,000 more, while the price of some popular options were also increased, making in the most extreme cases the increase will reach the figure of $20,000 dollars. The increases also affect reservations for the R1S SUV, which is not yet shipping.

Rivian R1S

The only way pre-order holders could avoid the increase is by opting for the two-engine version, which is considerably less powerful and capable, and which will start shipping in 2024, something very difficult for the vast majority to accept. of buyers, especially now that the market offers options that did not exist when they made their reservations. Adding to online protests from reservation holders was an alarming number of cancellations from buyers who, according to a report from Electrek “They don’t want to pay the increase or they feel cheated by the company.”

When announcing the increases, Rivian explained that they were “the result of inflationary pressure on the cost of components and raw materials from suppliers around the world.” However, Car and Driver says the increases may have been planned beforehand. According to the publication, in a lawsuit for wrongful termination by Laura Schwab, former vice president of sales and marketing for Rivian, against the company, the executive alleges that when she warned that truck prices were unsustainably low, her superiors responded that they would increase them later. of the initial public offering of shares.

Rivian R1T

With the cancellation of the increases, Rivian has certainly calmed the spirits of many of its buyers and will probably recover some of the lost reservations, but the episode caused unnecessary damage to the reputation of the young electric vehicle manufacturer and probably opened the eyes of many. of affected customers to other options on the market.

Publisher Recommendations










es.digitaltrends.com