Rivian CEO Says Automaker Plans Smaller EVs For China And Europe

Which will be produced locally, by the way.

Rivian Rally Car Rendered

Gustavo Henrique Ruffo

By: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo

Nov 19, 2020 at 12:58pm ET

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The R1T and the R1S are halo products, according to RJ Scaringe. Rivian’s CEO also told Reuters his company would sell smaller vehicles in China and Europe and probably be produced locally. In other words, apart from the Normal plant, Rivian is working to have at least two more outside of the US.

It is a pity Scaringe did not clarify which vehicles Rivian plans to sell in the largest car market in the world and the Old Continent, but he is aware that the R1T is are too big for their streets. A few Chinese and European buyers will eventually get the R1S by 2022, but they are not as many as those who want sedans and compact SUVs in China or compact hatchbacks and SUVs in Europe.

Rivian Rally Car Rendered

That gives us a fairly good idea of what to expect from Rivian in these two markets. At least one of the next Rivian vehicles will certainly be a compact SUV, which can be the same for China, Europe, and the US, apart from minor tweaks. It could even look like this rendering published at the Rivian Forums we used to illustrate this article.

China’s love for sedans is not shared by Europe, as Europeans love hatchbacks more than any other market in the world. Anyway, both sedans and hatchbacks are losing ground to SUVs and CUVs. Sadly, the Rivian sports car may never come true.

Rivian Electric Sports Car

According to Scaringe, no one would take Rivian seriously if it did not have plans to sell in China and Europe. Indeed. Although the US is the second-biggest car market in the world, no car company can afford to sell only there. We’re in times of massive car market consolidations such as the one FCA and PSA want to achieve with Stellantis. Summing up, scale is king, and the Rivian CEO is pretty aware of that.

More Rivian News:

Rivian Configurator Shows Kitchen Costs $5,000, Top Battery Pack $10,000

Rivian Delivery Truck For Amazon Is Photographed Driving Without Camo

Predictably, Scaringe said the company’s follow-on vehicles would share “key components” with the R1T and R1S, something that Amazon's delivery van already does. Speaking of which, the van’s purpose is not solely to serve Amazon. It will also be the mobile service platform for Rivian to aid the 41 service centers in the US the company will establish before the cars are even delivered.

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By “key components,” Scaringe can only mean the battery pack and motors, which implies the Rivian platform is probably scalable like Volkswagen’s MEB. As much as its expansion plans for China and Europe, this engineering aspect speaks a bunch about Rivian’s long term plans. Chinese and European customers must be curious about what Rivian is preparing for them. We bet competitors are both curious and anxious.

Source: Reuters

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