Since Rivian (RIVN) -) began producing its R1T electric pickup truck in 2021, the vehicle has surged in popularity on its way to topping Car and Driver's electric pickup rankings. Though the electric vehicle startup was the first to produce and deliver an electric pickup, the company is now facing much cheaper competition from a steadily lengthening list of prominent brands.
Ford (F) -) has the F-150 Lightning, Chevrolet (GM) -) has its Silverado EV and Hummer even got into the action with the GMC Hummer EV. And, of course, there is the pending Tesla (TSLA) -) Cybertruck.
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In the years since Tesla Chief Elon Musk unveiled the Cybertruck, an alien-looking electric pickup truck, the company has consistently missed production deadlines while its waiting list has continued to grow. But the vehicle finally entered production over the summer, and the first Cybertruck rolled off the line July 15 at Tesla's Austin, Texas headquarters.
Sharp-eyed users have spotted truckloads of Cybertrucks on the road as production continues to ramp up, though Tesla has yet to confirm the initial selling price for the truck.
You want a Cybertruck, I'll give you a Cybertruck ⚡️⚡️⚡️#cybertruck #Tesla@SERobinsonJr @greggertruck pic.twitter.com/sUgzjLokpO
— Ezekiel Overstreet 🚀 (@EzekielOverstr1) August 26, 2023
Ming-Chi Kuo, meanwhile, a prominent analyst with TF International Securities, wrote Oct. 9 that she expects Tesla to ship between 100 and 200 Cybertrucks in 2023, a number that will exceed 100,000 in 2024 and 240,000 in 2025.
Faced with the impending Cybertruck threat, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe remains unconcerned.
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"If you were to think of the Venn diagram of customers, there’s probably not a lot of overlap. But I think it’s great that a product like that exists in the world," Scaringe told The Verge. "If we really truly want to electrify everything that’s produced … we need to have variety. So it’s great to see something that’s so different that’s there, and I hope there’s lots of different choices that give lots of different types of customers things to choose from."
Scaringe, noting Rivian's success in the high-end EV market, said that in his business, having different options is vital and not necessarily cannibalistic.
"Often in the context of the tech space, we think of a single winner or maybe a small set of winners," he said. "In transportation, there needs to be many winners. There needs to be 20 to 25 successful auto manufacturers building electric-connected vehicles. Our success doesn't require someone else's failure and vice versa."
Rivian delivered just shy of 8,000 cars in the first quarter of 2023, a number it topped with 12,640 deliveries in the second quarter. The company is targeting 50,000 deliveries for the year.
Shares of Rivian, up 6% for the year, rose slightly Wednesday morning.
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