Rivian work week reduced to 2-3 days until inventory comes down

[comtns]

I can tell you it is true. I live 40 minutes from the Normal plant. A Rivian engineer and an HR employee live in my subdivision. I got this info from a golf buddy's son who works on the floor (lives in Morton, IL). I can tell you how they feel. Scared.

Hopefully things pick up for them, maybe as the earliest R2 are produced for testing and showrooms, then first sales. Should be a popular vehicle. Remember, the similar size Tesla Model Y became the best selling car model in the world for a while, so maxing out Normal production seems quite plausible.

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[captainjp]

I keep saying it, keep getting batted down, but here goes again.

plain and simple. Rivian needs to switch to a Dealer model.

whether it is home grown or partnering with an established brand Rivian needs to admit defeat in the go-it-alone approach and partner up or sell franchise dealerships. The public has made its choice.

despite public polls claiming car dealers are deeply hated US consumers unfailingly choose using their own hard earned money to go to dealers. Politically there has been Zero success in causing states to drop dealer mandate laws. The discrepancy between polls/ focus groups and actual reality of dealer preference speaks volumes . With R2 coming a scary scenario couldn’t be more clear, Rivian is already months behind in Service backlog, and customers are not beating down the door for R1. Consumers need to be able to touch and test Drive vehicles. Tesla is the exception and should not be mistaken for a typical car manufacturer. It is centered on a cult of personality. Rivian is not.

lol. No

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

I can tell you it is true. I live 40 minutes from the Normal plant. A Rivian engineer and an HR employee live in my subdivision. I got this info from a golf buddy's son who works on the floor (lives in Morton, IL). I can tell you how they feel. Scared.

The dumbest and most unnecessary recession is coming. Hold on to your ankles.

 

[Gen(R3)Xer]

If they could get it out this year they absolutely would, but the expansion of the plant in Illinois hasn’t even been finished yet. They’re moving as fast as they can.

 

[jn bot]

Tariffs cause prices to increase and the stock market to reduce money available to spend. A bad combination maybe deadly for car sales. They however have many people waiting for quads maybe they are changing production lines. They’re not gonna tell their workers what’s going onor it would leake to us.

 

[runwithscissors]

Tariffs cause prices to increase and the stock market to reduce money available to spend. A bad combination maybe deadly for car sales. They however have many people waiting for quads maybe they are changing production lines. They’re not gonna tell their workers what’s going onor it would leake to us.

I have a hard time believing there are many out there waiting for Quads given their high price and overkill performance. They need R2 now because selling a $100k R1 isn't going to be that easy to pull off as time goes on.

 

[HaveBlue]

If tariffs hit import vehicles, it may help the domestic market including Rivian but will take some time to sort out.

Expanding normal was a good adaptation to leverage resources but they need to move operations to a right to work state to avoid getting demolished like the big three and vw have.

 

[Der]

People still get the same money they got 1onths ago. Tariffs has nothing to do with Rivian demand issues as well as LA fires. It is a véry nich product and people that want to pay 100k for the road car already bought what they wanted. R2 should be released this year and not in 2026.

I agree about the niche product theory but there’s more going on here. The Current Chaos Theory definitely contributes to a chill on spending. My wife and I are putting off a planned mstr bath re- model until things normalize. People for the most part ARE getting the same money but their retirement accounts have just been torpedoed.

 

[shap]

I agree about the niche product theory but there’s more going on here. The Current Chaos Theory definitely contributes to a chill on spending. My wife and I are putting off a planned mstr bath re- model until things normalize. People for the most part ARE getting the same money but their retirement accounts have just been torpedoed.

100%. I was more talking about Rivian reported results, that happened before all the mess on a markets. People stopped buying Rivians before tariffs and stock market decline. With what happening now it will be much worse for Rivian. Unfortunately.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

If tariffs hit import vehicles, it may help the domestic market including Rivian but will take some time to sort out.

Expanding normal was a good adaptation to leverage resources but they need to move operations to a right to work state to avoid getting demolished like the big three and vw have.

That’s only looking at one side of things. Look at how the stock market is trending right now. Retail is getting bludgeoned because consumers are expected to reduce spending drastically. Closing in on “single worst [financial] event since WW2”. And it’s all caused by unnecessary actions and manufactured excuses. Not even four months under new administration.

 

[captainjp]

100%. I was more talking about Rivian reported results, that happened before all the mess on a markets. People stopped buying Rivians before tariffs and stock market decline. With what happening now it will be much worse for Rivian. Unfortunately.

Rivians results are exactly what was forecast in the last earnings call. Performance was realistic and as-expected considering the circumstances.

 

[Dark-Fx]

The more fair criticism would be that Rivian should have planned on expanding the Normal plant for launch of R2 from the start. On the original roadmap for the Georgia facility they would already be ramping production of the R2 by now, so they did prioritize it. They were just unprepared for the blowback and damage that a few NIMBYs could do to their timeline.

I don't think Rivian will be net profitable without the GA plant online, regardless of where the economy is in two years.

 

[2kwik4u]

And let's not forget the business owner, who is having his customers put projects on indefinite hold due to the economic outlook.

By all accounts, these people (and everyone else) in Rivian's market will be paying more for virtually everything they purchase very soon. A perfect storm for everyone, not just Rivian.

Higher priced items, labeled luxury or not, always take a proportionally bigger hit when consumer confidence wanes, the economy softens, prices for components rise unexpectedly leading to higher prices, the market declines significantly, and/or the politics of the world take a de-stabilizing turn.

We have a President and congress who have managed to make all these things true in a very short period of time.

I know this is from a few pages back, but I wanted to interject a little bit of context on this particular quote.

I run a small manufacturing company that makes OEM style process equipment for a wide variety of industries. I've had at least (3) MAJOR customers (more than 20% of my anticipated sales, each) put actively quoted and working jobs "On hold due to the current political climate". All three of them either said those words, or some small variation of them. One was a food producer based in Mexico, another was a mine operator in Missouri, and the third was a power industry supplier in Georgia. These are decisions and wording coming down from President/VP level positions within larger companies. EVERYONE, not just retail consumers, are pumping the brakes on everything until they get an idea of WTF is going on.

This "trickles down" in a big way (more like waterfalls really) to my business, and my employees personal situation. I run on a normally generous profit sharing scheme, with business trending towards being something like 40-50% under expectations currently, year end bonuses are going to be slim, if they exist at all. This means my team that was looking at retail spending, is ALSO pumping the brakes on major purchases. They see my communications out to the team, they see the lost potential jobs, and they're hedging their personal accounts against worse than anticipated outcomes.

I was at the boat show this weekend. Shopping for "luxury items". The wife and I moved to NY recently, and have spent a good chunk of the winter considering buying a bigger/newer boat to handle the different boating style up here. After seeing some cancelled orders at the office, and looking at stock markets plunge, I'm going to hold my cash in the bank for now. Putting off that luxury item (just as you point), until I have some better confidence in what the hell is going on in the world. Rivians fall in this same category. They're expensive for what they are, and will get hit with lower consumer confidence, right in the sales column.

Stability, consistency and predictability build the consumer confidence at all levels of buying. Those are three words that I'm sure have never been coined in reference to our current government leadership. I'm buckling in for a bumpy ride, I'm sure I'm not alone, and a big part of that is pulling back on unnecessary spending on big ticket items.

 

[HaveBlue]

That’s only looking at one side of things. Look at how the stock market is trending right now. Retail is getting bludgeoned because consumers are expected to reduce spending drastically. Closing in on “single worst [financial] event since WW2”. And it’s all caused by unnecessary actions and manufactured excuses. Not even four months under new administration.

I don't disagree with you or many of the comments here. Trump knows how to go broke and it's questionable whether his moves will prevent the government from going into further ruin.

However if his plans protect domestic production it's generally better for domestic car companies. Problem is that Rivian was planning to sell the R2 overseas as well and other countries aren't going to be tariff friendly now either.

It's certainly far more complex than a few points discussed here

 

[captainjp]

I don't disagree with you or many of the comments here. Trump knows how to go broke and it's questionable whether his moves will prevent the government from going into further ruin.

However if his plans protect domestic production it's generally better for domestic car companies. Problem is that Rivian was planning to sell the R2 overseas as well and other countries aren't going to be tariff friendly now either.

It's certainly far more complex than a few points discussed here

I believe the plan is to build manufacturing facilities overseas (a la Tesla), as to avoid these tariffs.

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