You know its bad when these guys trash Rivian!

[JerseyGreens]

Message their Chief Growth Officer on LinkedIn and let him know how you feel. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jitenbehl/

He removed his profile. Click on connect and poof it's gone.

I assume this jacka** will be the first one to lose his job...

Sponsored

 

[RWerksman]

He removed his profile. Click on connect and poof it's gone.

I assume this jacka** will be the first one to lose his job...

Still there for me.

 

[Tim-in-CA]

He removed his profile. Click on connect and poof it's gone.

I assume this jacka** will be the first one to lose his job...

I hear his title has been changed to Chief Implosion Officer!

 

[IPTV65]

Still there for me.

He did lock messaging down now. I guess he is not interested in everyone’s opinion. But we knew that. So lame. When ya pull something like this ya gotta be willing to man up and own it!

 

[AdamsFan1983]

Put down my security deposit two hours ago. 850 miles on her, 2k below msrp and they’re throwing in a bed liner.

I know I’m not a early preorder holder and others have more to be mad about than I do, but really the inflation line honestly hurts more as a recent devotee.

they knew this was a risk a year ago and had every opportunity to correct course and manage people’s expectations. They chose not too.

This just reinforces my belief that the cancellations are a feature, not a bug to them. I really feel like this was designed to thin the herd and free up components for the Amazon vans which probably had some sort of damages associated with a delivery target miss. To a bean counter, doing that while enhancing their gross margin is a win win; reputation and good will be damned.

 

[Tim-in-CA]

He did lock messaging down now. I guess he is not interested in everyone’s opinion. But we knew that. So lame. When ya pull something like this ya gotta be willing to man up and own it!

Most C-level execs don't have the stomach or gumption to deal with the "little people" .. they are the big thinkers. They have minions to do their dirty work for them ... Here are a couple of CS chat agents trying to figure out what to say next to bring everyone down off the ledge ...

 

[sevengroove]

I keep thinking that business schools will be looking at this for years to come. I just don’t know if the story will be ”How a promising startup managed to self-destruct by driving off huge numbers of early customers and harming good will with many of those remaining” or if it will be, “How Rivian managed to weather the perfect storm of adversity by driving away unprofitable business”

Wow, you're spot on. What hits hard is that I did actually feel like they are trying to "purge" their original user base with this price hike. Harboring ill will towards us? Can't afford to pony up an extra $15k? Then we don't value you as a customer anyway. Make room for "the others", whoever they are ...

 

[Davethadog]

if anyone has linkedin premium, they should message this guy:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andybowman/

 

[mrpl]

if anyone has linkedin premium, they should message this guy:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andybowman/

And say what? I’m sure Andy knows already. I would only be bothering him as he works on his resume’. It’s continues to be odd that there has been no messaging since the emails came out.

 

[ironpig]

if anyone has linkedin premium, they should message this guy:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andybowman/

in a scenario like this it's highly unlikely that he had any control over the messaging and more likely has to deal with the clean up and the requests from journalists who will be writing articles about Rivian etc.

What will be interesting is to see if high level employees jump ship over the next few months.

 

[Tim-in-CA]

I was watching their reaction closely yesterday. It started with denial, then as reality sunk in they all sounded like this forum. I feel sorry for them too. It sucks to buy into a brand like this and get stabbed in the back. Rivian really screwed up.

Once you lose a cheerleader, there’s not much you can do to win them back.

RIP Naya Rivera ?

 

[COdogman]

Yesterday I was already convinced this move was planned and they knew exactly how it would land with everyone and did not give 2 $hits. Today I am starting to think back farther and look at the entire story as BS from day 1. It sounds conspiratorial and it would be nearly impossible to prove, but when you look at the following:

1. The lawsuit Laura filed against them and what her accusations were about how they were deliberately keeping listed prices low until after the IPO, knowing they could not produce vehicles at those prices.
2. Then you have little to no customer deliveries made, meaning they didn’t actually SELL many trucks at the lower pricing.
3. The leadership makes a concerted effort to keep talking about ”value over profit” in interviews and communications.
4. They allow all of the media reviews to take place with the lower pricing, resulting in nearly every article and video to make the case for what a “great value” the Rivian is.
5. Reservations start piling up with little to no effort to manufacture trucks or communicate with customers (Because then you would have to sell the trucks at the lower pricing)
6. IPO happens, investors see all the great reviews and reservations, making the offering a big success for the company (and bonuses for some of the a$$holes who led us to this point).
7. Email all but a handful of customers and inform them the prices just went up at least 20% across the board.

They really look bad. I’m sure they could care less.

 

[Cavalryscout18]

I’m there with everyone on being disappointed about the price hikes. My R1S is now at $98,000; I would need to ditch all my options and go with the Explorer with all free options to even be close to my budget now. I also invest over $20k on Rivian, which is worth about $10k at this point so I have plenty to be angry about. Taking a step back though, and looking at this as a business from a short-term cash flow perspective, the decision for them to increase prices seems to make business sense. Hear me out before you light the torches: Rivian needs more cash, not more reservations between now and 2024. If we assume that 50% of their current orders are cancelled, that means they still have around 40,000 vehicles to build between now and the end of 2023. Based on how slow production has been, I think building the 40,000 vehicles over the next two years is achievable. I don’t think they will ramp production much higher based on the fact that we are already in March and still very few deliveries being communicated. That means that all vehicles sold for the next two years will bring in much more cash for them. In 2024 when they have gotten through the back log, they can then start building the cheaper models (standard pack with dual engines). I’m sure by then, there will be a whole new set of Rivian fans while the rest of us moved on to the competition. Just wanted to rationalize why they seemed to throw all of us under the bus in the name of cash. And as a reminder, Tesla did the same thing when they announced the Model 3 for $35k that didn’t really exist and most people, including myself, had to opt for the $48,000 version. Still super sucks, RJ!!

 

[ja_kub_sz]

Okay... I will first say THIS IS HORRENDOUS NEWS AND I AM SUPER PISSED OFF BY IT!

But...

When I'm at my house and something breaks I immediately think to myself, oh how much is this going to cost me? I do a little bit of research, and come to a conclusion on what I believe the price is going to be. In my mind I've already formed a rough estimate of what exactly the value to the solution of my problem is. I came up with a price.

Now it's time to figure out what, or who is going to handle this for me and if I'm correct in my assumed price. I phone a few friends; look at whoever is recommend, or whoever I need to call, read a few reviews, make a few more phone calls, and get a few quotes on prices. Before I even made these phone calls I had a number in my head, if somebody quotes me a price that's less than that number I immediately feel I'm getting something of value, a bargain so to speak. If that number is high, I continue to ask around, and see if this is in fact the going rate, and if I undervalued the work that needed to be done.

If I told you there was a pickup truck that hits 0-60 and 3 seconds, had 900+ horsepower; towed 11,000 pounds, had the fit and finish of a luxury vehicle inside, had all this cool new tech, a gear tunnel, amazing air suspension, incredible off-road prowess, handled like a "Range Rover SVR", but only cost $20 to fuel up, and continued to go on and on about said vehicle. How much do you think it would cost?

In your head what price would you put on that vehicle?

What would be your best estimate or guess?

Now this is where it all comes together, because I wouldn't guess $85,000, heck an SVR is like 130k. I'll be honest I'd be hard-pressed to even guess a $100,000, there's pickups already that eclipse that price. In my head I would immediately think "well it's got to be at least 110k maybe even more" based on what I've seen reading through my 6 car magazines a month for years on end. Every single vehicle I've seen out there in the market, and everything I've ever come to know about cars tells me with those kinda specs this EV truck is a 100k bargain, especially after owning a Model S, Range Rover, and F-150 platinum. The Rivian checks all those boxes and it's just one vehicle.

The sad part is when most people heard that this vehicle would be $70,000, and with options $85,000 they too felt like they could get the bargain of a lifetime and finally level-up whatever they were driving. It's not often that you can actually say with pride that you happen to have the fastest pickup truck ever made, and it's a virtual luxury vehicle that costs the same as fully loaded ICE F-150. You'd probably feel pretty smug that the world didn't know about it, but you did, and to soon own one. Basically the Gucci cowboys dream truck that happens to be a supercar, or whatever it is you were looking for? A piece of automotive unobtainium sitting in you driveway for 80k. It got me excited.

Again I said this before, but back in 2015 when I got my dual motor Model S I would look at the specs and I was always blown away. All the things that it could do and how it checked every single box were other cars couldn't. Excited as I was I got my Model S with a sticker price of $115,000, and that car was slower, smaller, not nearly as nice, and nowhere as capable as the Rivian R1T.

I loved that car... It was a bargain to me... Faster then a Maserati, more functional then an M5. Looked like a million bucks; and I could fold the seats flat and put a small sofa in the back, leave my take out in the frunk to not stink up the car, and I drove 35,000 miles for $700 thanks to the superchargers. It was untouchable and I felt the same way while driving it. I felt like it was the Louisiana purchase of cars, and many people (more so now) agree.

What changed? I don't think anything did... Vehicles aren't cheaper for the most part, but you do get more. More, more, more, it's always how we're sold on things now a days. But for the people who only looked at the screen and saw a price while specing out their Rivian, and didn't form their own opinion first of what it's worth to them, well you're now at the pitiless mercy of the cruel masters at Rivian. And now people feel cheated, which in part I do too. I feel lied to, screwed over and taken advantage of, but in my head before I ever knew what the price was gonna be I saw 6 digits in my head, and still was like "this is so it!". Heck the Lucid Air won MTCoTY at 139k, not that I entirely agree, but the Rivian keeps looking better and better the more I look around and the less I look at the my new configuration screen.

Rivian wants to move transportation and trucks to sustainability. Well they just made Ford create a new brand all because the world is full speed electric, especially the truck segment. Cyber truck can't take credit alone for that, and if it took a little bending of the truth to get us there, I'm happy it happened.

Now in principle a $100,000 is understandably a deal breaker for a lot of people. Worst of all how this came to about after we all were told by Rivian what the perceived value of their product should be. RJ said priced like a Yukon, well maybe he meant Denali or now even Escalade, but I wouldn't want either of those two vehicles. Neither can tow and go like a Rivian, nor do they handle like a Rivian. But yeah Rivian raised the price, but maybe we undervalued the product too.

Now as for the vitriol of building a brand, and Rivian's imagine, I'm not one to judge too much and don't put too much stock in it. Rivian first needs to build and sell EV's. All the rest is a distant second. I would liken it to new head who wants to "change the organizations culture", but if they don't win games, all that isn't gonna happen. They won't be around too long. Chalk this up to a fool me twice Rivian shame on me moment, and just ask yourself would you even buy a 100k vehicle? If not, okay, but don't hate Rivian for that. Tell me another 100k EV you'd buy in place of it. Oh that's right... you wouldn't for various reasons. So back we go to the whole their price vs your value issue.

As of right now, and for the foreseeable future (2023-24) the R1T is still at the top of my list.

 

[Tim-in-CA]

Okay... I will first say THIS IS HORRENDOUS NEWS AND I AM SUPER PISSED OFF BY IT!

But...

When I'm at my house and something breaks I immediately think to myself, oh how much is this going to cost me? I do a little bit of research, and come to a conclusion on what I believe the price is going to be. In my mind I've already formed a rough estimate of what exactly the value to the solution of my problem is. I came up with a price.

Now it's time to figure out what, or who is going to handle this for me and if I'm correct in my assumed price. I phone a few friends; look at whoever is recommend, or whoever I need to call, read a few reviews, make a few more phone calls, and get a few quotes on prices. Before I even made these phone calls I had a number in my head, if somebody quotes me a price that's less than that number I immediately feel I'm getting something of value, a bargain so to speak. If that number is high, I continue to ask around, and see if this in fact the going rate and if I undervalued the work that needed to be done.

If I told you there was a pickup truck that hits 0-60 and 3 seconds, had 900+ horsepower; towed 11,000 pounds, had the fit and finish of a luxury vehicle inside, had all this cool new tech, a gear tunnel, amazing air suspension, incredible off-road prowess, handled like a "Range Rover SVR", but only cost $20 to fuel up, and continued to go on and on about said vehicle. How much do you think it would cost?

In your head what price would you put on that vehicle?

What would be your best estimate or guess?

Now this is where it all comes together, because I wouldn't guess $85,000, heck an SVR is like 130k. I'll be honest I'd be hard-pressed to even guess a $100,000, there's pickups already that eclipse that price. In my head I would immediately think "well it's got to be at least 110k maybe even more" based on what I've seen reading through my 6 car magazines a month for years on end. Every other single vehicle I've seen out there in the market, and everything I've ever come to know about cars tells me with those kinda specs this EV truck is a 100k bargain, especially after owning a Model S, Range Rover, and F-150 platinum. The Rivian checks all those boxes and it's just one vehicle.

The sad part is when most people heard that this vehicle would be $70,000, and with options $85,000 they too felt like they could get the bargain of a lifetime and finally level-up whatever they were driving. It's not often that you can actually say with pride that you happen to have the fastest pickup truck ever made, and it's a virtual luxury vehicle that cost the same as fully loaded ICE F-150. You'd probably feel pretty smug that the world didn't know about it, but you did, and own one. Basically the Gucci cowboys dream truck that happens to be a supercar, or whatever it is you were looking for? A piece of automotive unobtainium sitting in you driveway for 80k.

Again I said this before, but back in 2015 when I got my dual motor Model S I would look at the specs and I was always blown away. All the things that it could do and how it checked every single box were other cars couldn't. Excited as I was I got my Model S with a sticker price of $115,000, and that car was slower, smaller, not nearly as nice, and nowhere as capable as the Rivian R1T.

I loved that car... It was a bargain... Faster then a Maserati, more functional then an M5. Looked like a million bucks; and I could fold the seats flat and put a small sofa in the back, leave my take out in the frunk to not stink up the car, and I drove 35,000 miles for $700 thanks to the superchargers. It was untouchable and I felt the same way while driving it. I felt like it was the Louisiana purchase of cars, and many people (more so now) agree.

What changed? I don't think anything did... Vehicles aren't cheaper for the most part, but you do get more. More, more, more, it's always how we're sold on things now a days. But for the people who only looked at the screen and saw a price while specing out their Rivian, and didn't form their own opinion first of what it's worth to them, well you're now at the pitiless mercy of the cruel masters at Rivian. And now people feel cheated, which in part I do too. I feel lied to, screwed over and taken advantage of, but in my head before I ever knew what the price was gonna be I saw 6 digits in my head and still was like "this is so it!". Heck the Lucid Air won MTCoTY at 139k, not that I agree, but the Rivian keeps looking better and better the more I look around and the less I look at the my new configuration screen.

Rivian wants to move transportation and trucks to sustainability. Well they just made Ford create a new brand all because the world is full speed electric, especially the truck segment. Cyber truck can't take credit alone for that, and if it took a little bending of the truth to get us there, I'm happy it happened.

Now in principle a $100,000 is understandably a deal breaker for a lot of people. Worst of all how this came to about after we all were told by Rivian what the perceived value of their product should be. RJ said priced like a Yukon, well maybe he meant Denali or now even Escalade, but I wouldn't want either of those two vehicles. Neither can tow and go like a Rivian, nor do they handle like a Rivian. But yeah Rivian raised the price, but maybe we undervalued the product too.

Now as for the vitriol of building a brand, and Rivian's imagine, I'm not one to judge too much and don't put too much stock in it. Rivian first needs to build and sell EV's. All the rest is a distant second. I would liken it to new head who wants to "change the organizations culture", but if they don't win games, all that isn't gonna happen. They won't be around too long. Chalk this up to a fool me twice Rivian shame on me moment, and just ask yourself would you even buy a 100k vehicle? If not, okay, but don't hate Rivian for that. Tell me another 100k EV you'd buy in place of it. Oh that's right... you wouldn't for various reasons. So back we go to the whole their price vs your value issue.

As of right now, and for the foreseeable future (2023-24) the R1T is still at the top of my list.

Well said. Rivian screwed up underpricing the vehicles, the are now aligned with (and still beat) their ICE and few EV counterparts. Unfortunately they crushed many of their most fervent supporters, let’s hope Rivian recovers from this gaffe.

EDIT : and I as I recently said to someone else, if something looks too good to be true, it probably is. Unfortunately the truth is coming with a hefty price tag and disappointment for some

Sponsored