Rahul Somvanshi
This week, Rivian has caused frustration to its earliest customers further by changing delivery dates. Last year, Rivian had to face the consequences of raising prices for its vehicles. It looks like the automaker is now prioritizing the delivery of pricier vehicles first. Many long-term Rivian customers were left feeling disgruntled when orders placed after Rivian hiked its prices were given priority over earlier orders.
Rivian sent email updates to its customers every few months, detailing changes in delivery dates. This has caused an uproar in the community, with customers on Twitter and in company forums expressing their anger. It was confirmed by Insider that orders placed after Rivian increased its prices in March 2022 were to be filled before the earlier, cheaper orders.
Rivian may have been the first to make a dramatic price change, but Tesla and Ford aren’t far behind. Tesla has been at the center of a pricing war that has caused its own repercussions, with those who purchased expensive cars seeing the value drop overnight. Ford has attempted to make amends to those who purchased the Mustang Mach-E before the price cut, but this hasn’t been a total solution.
Though Rivian wasn’t able to meet its production target of 25,000 vehicles for 2022, it still managed to deliver 20,332 vehicles to customers. Additionally, the company was sitting on a cash reserve of nearly $14 billion at the end of Q3. Despite this, Rivian has still experienced the same supply chain and production issues that have plagued other EV startups and established automakers.
