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Ford Rival Rivian Loses $33k On Every EV Sold

Early on, Ford was a big investor in upstart EV automaker Rivian, as the former originally planned to utilize the latter’s Skateboard platform in a future model. However, those plans were ditched as The Blue Oval decided to develop its own dedicated EV platforms, and it has since sold off most of its stake in Rivian, which has faced some difficulties ramping up production that prompted it to lay off a portion of its workforce – along with the departure of some executives as well. Now the two companies are essentially just rivals in the EV space, which means that both are facing one major problem – figuring out how to turn a profit on electric vehicles, a point highlighted in a recent article from the Wall Street Journal.

According to this new report, Rivian lost a total of $33,000 on every vehicle it sold in Q2 of this year, which is a staggering sum indeed. The company still has plentiful cash reserves of around $9 billion, and has managed to significantly ramp up production in recent months, inching closer to breaking even. Meanwhile, CEO RJ Scaringe is working to lower costs on the parts it purchases from suppliers, as it’s currently paying $25,000 per vehicle more than the typical market rate for those components.

However, this is a problem that isn’t exclusive to Rivian, as other automakers are also struggling to make their EVs profitable. Ford is among that group, losing $32k on every EV it sold in the second quarter of this year following a $2 billion dollar loss in 2022, while it expects to lose even more this yearupwards of $3 billion.

The difference here is, FoMoCo expected this to happen, and has its profitable Ford Pro and Ford Blue divisions to compensate for these losses. CEO Jim Farley previously stated that the company’s EVs won’t be profitable until 2026, and he also believes that cost parity between EVs and ICE vehicles won’t be reached until 2030.

We’ll have more on Rivian soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Rivian news and continuous Ford news coverage.

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.

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Comments

  1. Selling Rivian or other EV’s that Ford is selling at a $ 33,000 loss is just crazy ! The company’s are supposed to make a profit , not lose money . Packard was making wonderful cars in 1956, but was losing money , due to quantities, being lower in sales ! I have a 1955 Packard 400 -2dr. hardtop , but Packard was losing a boat load of money in 1955 and 1956 ! Thy closed up in August, 1956 ! Ford is a losing too much money to continue making EV’s !

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  2. The losses are not unexpected.

    Most of these electric car ventures are to milk the taxpayers for subsidies, and investors will be left hanging when these companies file for bankruptcy.

    The big salaries to the boardroom executives are long ago safely deposited somewhere, and they can walk away very wealthy while the investors, taxpayers, and the assembly line workers are left hanging.

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  3. Look how many years it took Tesla to turn a profit, about 12+ years.

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    1. Good point Eddie. Most if not all of the worlds automotive manufacturers are aware that they will be facing large loses on their first generation zero emission vehicles until they can scale production. They are all in a catch up race with Telsa for market share.

      Reply
    2. Tesla also had the benefit of dabbling in crypto investment as well as selling boatloads of carbon credits the government willed into existence to help them make money.

      Reply
      1. That’s why traditional ICE manufacturers have an advantage: they can keep selling ICE and hybrid vehicles for a profit while taking a loss on EVs. If electric vehicles can turn a profit, they’ll find a way. Rivian either needs a partner, another source of income (subsidies aren’t good enougn) or to go under.

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  4. They’re only losing money because they can’t scale production. To Rivian’s credit, they’re probably the only ev in the game that’s worth the price. That’s easily a $100k+ truck that they’re selling for $79,000. The finishes and options alone run circles around the lightning and anything from Tesla or lucid. If I had that kind of disposable income I’d have one for sure.

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    1. But it sounds like you DON’T have that kind of disposable income, therefore, you don’t get a vote.

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    2. I do, and I wouldn’t touch one with a 29 and a half foot pole. Not only are they not great as a truck, they’re also dorky looking like all the other EVs, and frankly the odds are that Rivian won’t exist in a few years. They need to be selling these for what an ICE midsize goes for to take the risk of buying from a company with no future.

      Reply
  5. And this is what the federal government’s attempts at social engineering yield: billions of tax subsidies to companies to produce six figure pickup trucks that can’t go from St. Louis to Kansas City without recharging. The current drop off in demand has E-vehicles filling dealer lots as rebates (and losses) rise. It’s not an aberration; it’s just a niche market that is costing manufacturers billions while ignoring the demand for ICE vehicles that consumers really want.

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  6. We don’t want EV, this is such a boondoggle when will the car companies get this message??????????? Stop the Stupid !!!!!!!!!

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    1. No one is forcing you to buy an EV. Global governments will continue to fund production of zero emission electric buses, trolleys and trains for those that would rather use mass transit. ICE private vehicles will remain for a while with ever increasing costs to the consumer most notably after 2030. Think sin taxes on the auto sales and fuel by multiple levels of government. That is already the case hear in Vancouver, Canada. We have the most expensive gas in North America. 20% of local auto sales are EVs and that is why I bought one last month as a second vehicle at 25% of the operational cost of my ICE vehicle.

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      1. You’re looking at it from the wrong perspective. Your government’s role is not to play kingmaker with companies and.choixea by taxing what they or their donors aren’t going to make as much money from.

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      2. Not yet, but there are several states that have a ban on selling new ICE vehicles starting in 2035.

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  7. I’ve got a great idea for a jet pack that will fly you to the moon and back. It will only cost the customer $999.99. At first I’ll only lose $100,000,000,000 per unit. I figure I can make it up in volume and government incentives.

    Reply

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