Rivian Destroyed By EV Collapse, Mismanagement
Rivian, the small US EV company, has almost certainly hit the end of its road. It cut its salaried workforce by 10% and cut production targets for SUVs and pickups to 57,000 for 2024 from an expected 65,000. It is a non-entity in the EV market compared to Tesla and the bumbling large car companies dumping billions into EVs. Eventually, even if the large companies are only moderately successful among them, they will get double-digit market share. However, it is likely a challenge for any of these giants to get to double digits on its own.
EV Bloodbath —Price Too High, Sales Too Low
Ford —EV Crater
Rivian said, “We expect 2024 production to be flat year-over-year with total units of 57,000.” In the fourth quarter, it lost $43,373 on every unit it delivered, a stunningly bad number. Rivian had revenue of $1.3 billion, on which it lost $1.5 billion. Over the last five quarters, Rivian has lost $1.7 billion.
CEO Robert Joseph Scaringe’s view of the world in which he operates has come unhinged. In the letter to shareholders that went with the financials, he wrote: “The opportunity ahead is substantial and we are focused on designing our organization, strategy, and products to capture this. We are unveiling our first global platform, the R2, in early March. We have made significant progress driving greater cost efficiency on R1 and RCV and have much more to come.”
Why Scaringe still runs the floundering company should be the first question shareholders ask regarding the results. No matter what shareholders think, Scaringe won’t be around for long. Rivian cannot survive as an independent company if it survives at all.
The stock is down 28% today to $11. It is down 80% in the last two years.
