rivianguy
Well-Known Member
In my humble opinion there are probably two separate but related questions in your original post.
1) Is the vehicle worth the new pricing?
2) Would you pay it?
The answer to #1 is yes I think it is. I speak more from the R1S perspective than R1T as that is what I own but I believe the answer applies to both. When you look at comparable vehicles in the market and the price point they are at and you do a blow by blow comparison of value for dollar then for the most part it appears they are priced well relative to competition. Some would argue this but many (including expert reviewers in the field) have expressed some version of this opinion already.
The answer to #2 is 'it depends'. In this forum there appear to be roughly 3 different 'economic' strata of folks. The first has a very high disposable income and/or retired with a relatively low price sensitivity for products that they view as valuable. These folks tend to have multiple EV's or fancy cars in their garage, buy a lot of options for their vehicles, focus time and energy on PPF etc. aftermarket accessories. Not everyone falls neatly into these buckets but directionally it's probably correct. I suspect that if you polled existing owners that fall into this bucket likely 80%+ would still buy at the higher price point. Anecdotally I'd say that roughly 30% or so of Rivian owners fall into this category.
The second 'tier' of buyer has less disposable income but is still probably considered 'upper middle class' by most measures. These types of buyers probably previously owned vehicles that were in the upper end of their respective classes but wouldn't typically be considered 'ultra luxury'. Often dual income, with many active financial commitments beyond just vehicle (mortgage, children etc.) Again anecdotally I'd guess that about 60% of Rivian owners fall into this category. This buyer has a higher level of price sensitivity primarily due to their other financial obligations. If you polled these owners I would guess that you would find a significantly higher drop off rate for these vehicles as the price approached 100k. My best guess would be that 60%+ of these owners would not have purchased these vehicles at greater than 100k.
The last group are the 'stretch' buyers made up primarily of auto or EV enthusiasts. This group probably makes up about 10% of the current Rivian owners. This group typically has to 'stretch' a bit to afford one of these vehicles, and likely has a relatively high loan to make the purchase happen. I think this group is likely the most sensitive to large price adjustments and you'd probably lose about 80% of these as the price approaches 100k.
So net net...
1) Is the vehicle worth the new pricing?
2) Would you pay it?
The answer to #1 is yes I think it is. I speak more from the R1S perspective than R1T as that is what I own but I believe the answer applies to both. When you look at comparable vehicles in the market and the price point they are at and you do a blow by blow comparison of value for dollar then for the most part it appears they are priced well relative to competition. Some would argue this but many (including expert reviewers in the field) have expressed some version of this opinion already.
The answer to #2 is 'it depends'. In this forum there appear to be roughly 3 different 'economic' strata of folks. The first has a very high disposable income and/or retired with a relatively low price sensitivity for products that they view as valuable. These folks tend to have multiple EV's or fancy cars in their garage, buy a lot of options for their vehicles, focus time and energy on PPF etc. aftermarket accessories. Not everyone falls neatly into these buckets but directionally it's probably correct. I suspect that if you polled existing owners that fall into this bucket likely 80%+ would still buy at the higher price point. Anecdotally I'd say that roughly 30% or so of Rivian owners fall into this category.
The second 'tier' of buyer has less disposable income but is still probably considered 'upper middle class' by most measures. These types of buyers probably previously owned vehicles that were in the upper end of their respective classes but wouldn't typically be considered 'ultra luxury'. Often dual income, with many active financial commitments beyond just vehicle (mortgage, children etc.) Again anecdotally I'd guess that about 60% of Rivian owners fall into this category. This buyer has a higher level of price sensitivity primarily due to their other financial obligations. If you polled these owners I would guess that you would find a significantly higher drop off rate for these vehicles as the price approached 100k. My best guess would be that 60%+ of these owners would not have purchased these vehicles at greater than 100k.
The last group are the 'stretch' buyers made up primarily of auto or EV enthusiasts. This group probably makes up about 10% of the current Rivian owners. This group typically has to 'stretch' a bit to afford one of these vehicles, and likely has a relatively high loan to make the purchase happen. I think this group is likely the most sensitive to large price adjustments and you'd probably lose about 80% of these as the price approaches 100k.
So net net...
- For affluent buyers you probably won't lose many despite the price point
- For the 'main body' of buyers you'll probably lose a lot
- For marginal buyers you'll probably lose the majority
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