Specialist
Former divisional leader at Arrival Ltd
Agenda
- Arrival’s (NASDAQ: ARVL) product offering and competitive differentiators
- Advantages and challenges associated with the microfactory concept and vertical integration
- Capacity to reach production and revenue targets, including supply chain considerations
- Capital allocation priorities
- Potential threats from new and traditional OEMs (original equipment manufacturers)
Questions
1.
Could you give an overview of Arrival? How did the company start and how did it get to where it is today?
2.
Can you expand on the microfactories Arrival uses to develop its vehicles? How has this concept developed? What are your thoughts on this approach?
3.
What needs to be overcome with microfactories? What key factors that make them work would convince you that this is a realistic concept in the long term?
4.
What are the limitations to using Arrival’s skateboard platform to make the different vehicle types, assuming the company starts manufacturing? Is it flexible enough to make all the vehicles? What are your thoughts on the concept?
5.
What are Arrival’s supply chain requirements to make its vehicles? Are they different from a traditional vehicle? How confident do you think the company is in its ability to deliver the expected ramp-up in production? Recent microchip shortages have forced other automakers to shut down production. I understand Arrival is a relatively new player, but what has to happen for the supply chain to pull together?
6.
Could you compare Arrival’s electric van opportunity with its electric bus opportunity? Where do you expect the electric bus orders to come from? What are your thoughts on the markets?
7.
How do last-mile delivery companies such as UPS, DHL and Amazon evaluate the different offerings from the new vehicle companies? What do they consider for their vehicle choices, and what are the evaluation timelines?
8.
Arrival said its electric van has a range of 150-340km. What explains these upper and lower figures? Is it payload weight? What factors go into the product’s range?
9.
Arrival announced prior to going public via SPAC [special purpose acquisition company] that it is expecting USD 14bn in revenues in 2024. What are your thoughts on this number? How could the company reach it and what timing would you expect for this?
10.
How do you think Arrival should allocate the capital it has raised? The company has a lot of cash post-IPO. Where should it invest?
11.
Which electric van player do you think has the best product or the most realistic mass market? Who’s likely to be the most successful company when considering the whole process, from manufacturing to product design to target market?
12.
Arrival isn’t the only company in this new vehicle market to go public via SPAC, but this type of funding is perhaps drying up. What do you think happens to the money that is raised and invested by these companies? Will most of it go to waste, or do companies such as Arrival and its peers ultimately become targets for players such as Ford, Volkswagen or Renault?
13.
What is the key question that we should ask when evaluating the 480 start-ups you mentioned that are involved in EV [electric vehicle] production? Is it to do with manufacturing or product?
14.
What milestones, signposts or events are you monitoring for the rest of 2021 that could impact the commercial EV market?
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