Before going public, Rivian became the third largest IPO in the United States in the past ten years, and it is also one of the largest and most anticipated transactions in the hot IPO market in 2021. After going public, can Rivian surpass many established car companies and become the second Tesla? Combined with its prospectus, the outside world may have a certain understanding of it.
Amazon and Ford have become core investors, and electric trucks have become their biggest attraction
Rivian Automotive was founded in 2003, formerly Mainstream Motors. The founder of the company is a graduate of the Department of Automotive Engineering of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and once received an innovation award from the Obama administration.
At the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show, Rivian launched two pure electric products-SUV R1S and pickup R1T, which instantly became popular in the market. As a result, since 2018, Rivian has completed a total of more than 10.5 billion U.S. dollars in sky-high financing, and it will exceed 5 billion U.S. dollars in 2021 alone. Amazon and Ford have become core investors, and Bezos has personally promoted it.
According to the company’s inquiry, Rivian has experienced 7 rounds of financing since its establishment.
It is worth mentioning that Ford Motor’s current market value is 77.367 billion U.S. dollars, Stellatis (the merger of Chrysler and PSA Group) currently has a market value of 64.234 billion U.S. dollars, and Rivian has now surpassed the market value of two established auto companies.
In terms of products, Rivian mainly produces R1T electric pickups and R1S SUVs, and currently has more than 3,600 employees. Rivian’s current biggest highlight is the R1T electric pickup. The R1T electric pickup that the company has built has been accepting pre-orders since November last year, and Rivian has signed a car purchase contract with Amazon to produce 100,000 electric trucks for the home appliance giant. According to data from foreign media, this order is also one of the largest orders in the U.S. electric vehicle market in 2019.
Although Rivian’s electric pickup trucks have attracted much attention, in the market, Tesla, Ford, General Motors and other auto companies have already released electric pickup truck models. What advantage does Rivian have?
Rivian R1T has cost-effective advantages, but mass production may be affected under the crisis of core shortage
Let’s take a look at the parameters of electric pickup trucks released by the three major US auto companies.
Tesla was the first to release the cool electric pickup CyberTruck with a cruising range of up to 805 kilometers and a price of 69,900 US dollars. According to Musk, its current order volume has exceeded one million.
Ford’s electric pickup Lightning has entered mass production. The aviation version is between 370km and 643km, and the starting price is 67,500 yuan. The delivery time is about next spring. General Motors’ all-electric Hummer offers a range of more than 563 kilometers. The starting price is US$112,600, and the delivery time is about the second half of this year.
In comparison, Rivian’s longest cruising range can reach 643km, and the starting price is up to 75,000 US dollars. Compared with traditional car companies’ electric pickups, it has certain cost-effective advantages, but Tesla’s CyberTruck has a more unique and most unique appearance. Long cruising range up to 804Km, there is also a certain advantage in price, it is a relatively strong competitor of Rivian R1.
However, CyberTruck also has some problems. At the launch of Tesla’s electric pickup truck, Musk claimed that the car glass can be bulletproof. Tesla’s chief design officer was asked to demonstrate the strength of the pickup glass. The latter threw a round metal ball to the side glass of the driver’s seat, and it was not surprising that the glass shattered. The failure of the test reflects Tesla’s quality problems.
In addition, in terms of delivery time, Rivian has set the earliest delivery date, and the latest delivery time is set in July this year. If it can be delivered first, the valuation may rise again.
However, it will not be very smooth before delivery. The current global core shortage has affected the speed of many car manufacturers. Since 2021, many multinational car giants, including Volkswagen, Toyota, Ford, Honda, etc., have announced that they will significantly reduce production due to chip supply problems. Relevant data shows that since this year, Toyota, Suzuki, Honda and other six major Japanese car companies have planned to reduce production by more than 1 million units this fiscal year; the annual car production in North America may decrease by about 1.5 million units; in September this year, Volkswagen , Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and other car companies have seen a sharp decline in sales in European countries such as the United Kingdom and France.
The latest forecast issued by the global consulting company AlixPartners said that the continuous shortage of chips will double the loss of the global automotive industry. It is estimated that the reduction of automobile production in 2021 is expected to reach 7.7 million, and the loss of revenue in the automotive industry will reach 210 billion US dollars (about 1.36 trillion yuan). Yuan).
It is reported that Rivian has extended the delivery date of electric pickup trucks. Due to the shortage of cores in the car industry, mass production may again bounce back.
Rivian’s development momentum also allows us to see some of Tesla’s back then. Can Rivian have a chance to become the second Tesla?
To become Tesla’s biggest competitor, will Rivian overcome difficulties or accelerate to catch up?
At that time, Tesla relied on IT research and development to develop from a start-up small electric vehicle company to the world’s first automobile company. Like Tesla, Rivian is not a century-old car company, starting from a blank sheet of paper to make electric cars, and has a scientific research team from Silicon Valley.
But what is different is that Tesla avoided the advantages and disadvantages of other car companies in the early stages of development and opened up a new path. It will clearly position itself as a “high-end and stylish pure electric coupe” and gradually become this one. The segment is the first brand to enter the minds of consumers. This development strategy has made Tesla’s stock price rise from $17 to $625 when it was just listed.
Rivian is the main high-end pure electric vehicle. Three models of Explore, Adventure, and Launch Edition were launched last year, with a starting price of US$70,000 (approximately 470,000 yuan). Among them, the higher-priced R1S Launch Edition model is scheduled to be delivered first in August this year. However, the R1S SUV obviously lacks some market enthusiasm compared to electric pickup trucks.
Rivian’s pure electric vehicles are different from Tesla’s avant-garde style. They are relatively traditional in style, especially the SUV R1S. The appearance of a large number of flat straight lines is quite similar to Jeep Wagoneer and Chevrolet Suburban, but lacks some of its own uniqueness. sex. Not only that, Rivian chose to develop high-end pure electric vehicles, which is destined to overcome obstacles.
Tesla’s delivery has always been a concern of Musk. Although the layout is early, even with the world’s three major production bases, it cannot completely solve the production problem. Rivian has to catch up with the life and death line of production.
At present, Rivian has only one plant in Illinois, USA, with a planned production capacity of about 150,000 units, which is far from being able to meet current order requirements. To this end, Rivian plans to invest about US$5 billion to build a second plant in Texas and reach a production capacity of 200,000 vehicles in 2027. The goal is to officially start production in Q2 of 2023. In August of this year, Rivian also selected Bristol, England as its first overseas production line, with an estimated investment of 1 billion pounds.
The risk of delivery problems is revenue, and revenue corresponds to the cash flow situation. According to Tyson Jominy, an analyst at J.D. Power, for mass production, “they may need to seek more financing from investors to support the initial production input.”
In addition, in the current era of car electrification, traditional American car companies are also accelerating their transformation. After Tesla and General Motors, Ford has also joined the fierce competition in the US electric vehicle market. Ford expects to invest more than $30 billion in electrification business, including battery development, by the end of 2025. In May, when Biden visited Ford, he test-drove Ford’s electric version of F-150, which can be regarded as a publicity for Ford’s electric car.
On May 26 this year, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee passed a bill: increase the amount of electric vehicle tax credits and expand their scope of application. With the dual assistance of policy stimulus and product power enhancement, the development of electrification in the United States is also expected to be in 2021. Continue to speed up. Under the strong promotion of the policy, it may be more difficult for Rivian to become a new force in car making.
Concluding remarks
Although Rivian went to the US to go public, but in the current fierce car-building track, Rivian’s SUV obviously lacks market competitiveness, and the appearance and performance of the vehicle need to be further improved. In the United States, Rivian seems to only focus on Tesla, but in a larger market, more powerful new car manufacturers may allow Rivian to learn more.
Text|American Stock Research Society (meigushe)