It appears that price competition for electric vehicle (EV) trucks has heated up, which isn’t good for Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN). This morning, legacy automaker Ford (NYSE:F) announced that it had lowered the prices for all versions of its electric F-150 Lightning. This comes after Ford had actually raised the prices for the Lightning several times since its debut in 2021. However, falling battery material prices and increased scale have allowed the company to drop prices back down.
“Shortly after launching the F-150 Lightning, rapidly rising material costs, supply constraints and other factors drove up the cost of the EV truck for Ford and our customers,” said Chief Customer Officer Marin Gjaja. “We’ve continued to work in the background to improve accessibility and affordability to help to lower prices for our customers and shorten the wait times for their new F-150 Lightning.”
Ford’s price cuts range between about 6% and 17%. The Lightning Pro trim will see the largest price cut of about 17%, falling to $49,995 from $59,974. On the other side, the Platinum extended range trim will experience the lowest cut of about 6%, falling to $91,995 from $98,074. For context, Rivian’s R1T starts at $74,800, while its R1S starts at $79,800.
RIVN Stock Feels the Pressure From Ford Price Cuts
The Ford price cuts aren’t the only piece of news hurting RIVN stock today. Over the weekend, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) also announced that it had produced its first Cybertruck at its Giga Texas facility.
First Cybertruck built at Giga Texas! 🤠 pic.twitter.com/ODRhHVsd0t
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 15, 2023
The Cybertruck was first unveiled in 2019, but delays and supply-chain inefficiencies have pushed back the official launch. Still, mass production of the truck is expected to begin either at the end of this year or the beginning of next year, creating another competitor for Rivian.
Last May, CEO Elon Musk stated that he has plans to eventually build 250,000 Cybertrucks per year, although that number will ultimately be dependent on demand. In addition, Tesla teased a starting price between $40,000 and $70,000 back in 2019, although macroeconomic factors will likely push that price range higher.
Baird analyst Ben Kallo certainly believes that the Cybertruck is a risk to Rivian. “We see competitive pricing and specs for the Cybertruck as a fundamental and headline risk to [Rivian],” explained the analyst.
On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
