The first time I interviewed Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe was late on press day at the Los Angeles motor show in November 2018. Earlier that day, the young Floridian had finally gone public with the car company he had created from the ground up over the past decade.
At the time, Rivian felt different to other automotive start-ups in how seemingly Scaringe had thought of everything on the business and manufacturing side as well as simply creating a cool, compelling product in the R1. Most start-ups are great at the latter but fall over when attempting the former.
Since production started in 2021, Rivian has delivered more than 150,000 vehicles. Given that its original Illinois production facility was set up during the pandemic, after which the car industry was hit immediately by a semiconductor shortage and then a major shift in trade policies, it is something of an understatement when Scaringe says Rivian’s launch has “not been easy”.
Among his achievements to date, two stand out for Scaringe: first, how well the brand itself has resonated as one “that enables and inspires adventure”. This family-friendly, outdoorsy brand image is exactly what he wanted.
Second is how well Rivian has almost lapped the field in customer satisfaction in the respected US Consumer Reports surveys. Its gap in percentage points to its closest competitor, BMW, is equal to that of second place down to 20th.
Rivian hasn’t rushed its next steps but is now ready for its next move: expansion into not just a second model line but also other markets, including the UK. There will be a new factory in which to build it, too, in Georgia.
Scaringe says preparing to launch the R2 brings back “a lot of familiar feelings” from seven years ago, “except now we’re so much more mature” and there’s a robustness to the business.
Rivian now has 16,000 employees and its backers include Amazon and the Volkswagen Group (a deal Scaringe is particularly proud of, not least because the only non-Rivian vehicle he owns is a VW Corrado VR6), both of which have entrusted Rivian with the development of their own products.
Even with that scale, Scaringe says the company still feels “like a big startup” and he has made sure a lot of technical teams still report to him directly to ensure that a technical focus remains.
This level of expertise in software development will remain, and with that a key advantage: legacy car companies just aren’t set up with the “empathy” for software that is “second nature” to Rivian.
Add your comment