Rivian Automotive – Post-IPO Analysis & Growth Outlook

Could you share 2-3 key trends or developments you’ve been following in the EV [electric vehicle] industry?

I think when Tesla came onto the EV playing field, most legacy OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] were stand-offish and uninterested in transitioning. However, now that Tesla has seen some succcess and the market caps of smaller players such as Lucid and Rivian are so big, you see legacy players like Volkswagen and Toyota jumping in, with Porsche also potentially being spun out. Are the legacy OEMs too late? Will people be as interested in their EV offerings as they are in the newer players?

What has the industry growth pace been and how much do you expect it to grow in 2022? What will 2023 look like and what are your expectations over the next 3-5 years?

What’s your outlook for BEV [battery electric vehicle] penetration by 2030? There’s a widely-discussed figure of 40%.

You sound confident on Rivian’s longer-term positioning. Where does the company sit within the current competitive landscape? What are some key points around its model and vehicle that give you confidence in the medium to longer term?

You said Rivian is aiming for 10% of the EV market by 2030, which is a fairly significant portion, and suggests there might be major losers down the road. How do you see the remaining 90% broken up and where might Rivian gain share from?

How do you assess Rivian’s EV market entrance vs that of other upstarts? Tesla hasn’t been able to launch its Cybertruck at the speed it wanted to, Lucid might be realising that it could and perhaps should release an SUV and other EV upstarts such as Fisker and Faraday

Rivian obviously looks at commercial and consumer markets. How does it stack up to other commercial offerings from Ford, Stellantis or GM?

Does Rivian’s van, its commercial offering, provide a significantly reduced or compelling TCO [total cost of ownership] value compared to what’s currently available, or Ford’s EV alternative?

Could you discuss Rivian’s R1S and R1T, the product portfolio evolution and your outlook for these models’ performance?

Given the excellence that’s gone into the car, what are your thoughts on Rivian’s pricing strategy? Some think the company came in and priced it too low, and there’s obviously been a fair amount of pushback on raising these models’ prices. How do you expect Rivian’s pricing strategy to grow?

How should we think about Rivian’s ability to increase prices, given its value proposition? Have you seen this ability across the industry? Alternatively, is the company interested in entering a more affordable market longer term?

What is your expectation for Rivian’s vehicle production capacity by 2030?

How confident are you in Rivian’s ability to deliver its 55,000th R1 vehicle by the end of 2023?

How hard is it to deploy a multi-platform parallel ramp-up strategy? Is it even a reasonable strategy to begin with?

Are there key supply chain headwinds that are specific to Rivian, given its size and the timing of its launch? What levers does it have at its disposal to offset these impacts?

What are your thoughts on Rivian’s distribution strategy and how, like many younger EV players, it’s trying to go D2C? What are the pros and cons of this? Could you also unpack the ownership model change Rivian is approaching?

You seem confident in Rivian’s change in ownership model. What’s your timeline and outlook for that transition? I can’t help but think I will always want a car, personally.

How should we think about Rivian’s growth and profitability profile over the next few years? What threats or risks will you be monitoring?

You mentioned Rivian’s management is really setting it apart from peers. Would you highlight any key talent moves? What is the company’s ability to attract top talent?

To summarise, what is the best- and worst-case scenario for Rivian over the next 12-18 months?