I think the issue with unibody cars is eventually you’re constrained on how much a base platform can be changed without the OEMs’ commitment to modifying the layout. The Honda Prologue and the Blazer EV have the same silhouette.
No. In free market not exist predefined constant priorities. Free market is dynamic system, which constantly change.
In 1960s and before, people buy any affordable machine, but in some niches preferred machines with good dynamics and (or!) with good fuel economy, so yes, good engine and transmission was important, and invested huge resources in them.
In 1980s most machines become very similar, and market demand for beautiful design and comfort, with good enough engine.
European geography is specific, it have big market of powerful 3rd party manufacturers of engines, new manufacturer just not have chances, but it's design market is not filled (nobody could name VAG designs bad, but they lack spice).
Also important thing, modern automobile is not simple thing, to fill all areas (engine, design, comfort), manufacturer need very large team. So to save design costs it is good to avoid some areas, for example to focus on comfort and interior.
So for Rivian is wise to TRY save costs and focus priorities on design/comfort and outsource EV battery & motor.
I cannot prove, but looks that BMW sales grown magnitudes, after them made pivot, to dynamic-luxurious direction.
Similar to BMW history was with Porsche, their sales grown with Cayenne, which is hated by many fans.
And also important thing - Tesla with Musk have ambitions to be big manufacturer, but not all other companies have such ambitions.
Seems like the logical thing to do. If Kroger says they'll sell me 100,000 apples and only delivered 23k, I might buy an orchard
> “Bosch made a calculated gamble to overpromise to multiple start-up electric vehicle companies on the theory that at least some of them would soon fail,” the lawsuit read.
> Rivian engineers said one of the lines was “in shambles” during a visit to Germany and claimed Bosch was not using “industry standard technology.”
Whether Chinese EVs ever make their way to US markets or not, the Chinese shift in consumer behavior and infrastructure there will eventually ripple out to South Korea and Japan and the US and EU will lose that fight with a mindset of denial.
The infotainment system, charging network and charging experience of a Tesla are still far ahead of the competition but I can’t tell why. There is literally a playbook to follow and they are all failing at it.
- Investing capital for new manufacturing lines, retraining employees, hiring new employees, etc. means reduced profits and reduced short term returns for shareholders. The top level execs probably feel like their heads would be on the chopping block if investor returns were to be reduced in the short term for accelerating long term growth.
- A lot of entrenched mid-level and senior executives are simply protecting their turf. Similar to how Nadella completely turned around the mindset at Microsoft once Ballmer was ousted, I'd guess there are a lot of executives with fat paychecks that don't want to see their little empires diminished.
- Holding taxpayers hostage for government subsidies (to be fair, many electric startups did get the benefit). BMWs "threat" about reliance on the Chinese supply chain feels like a kind of strawman to get more subsidies.
It is not really obvious path when people in Europe are not buying BEVs unless there is some serious subsidy on it.
And as we've seen, it's clear that the future of mobility is going to be electric. I find it hard to believe that if we look 50 years out, the majority will still be driving gasoline and diesel powered vehicles. So then the question is how and when do we get there?
> ...people in Europe are not buying BEVs
I can completely understand the reasons why. Infrastructure, the way residential areas are set up are not compatible with charging, price, inconvenience, etc. But those are problems that governments need to help solve if we already know the end result is that mobility will be primarily electric at some point in the future.
Seems like some self inflicted wounds in an industry that can’t afford a slip
Still hoping the R2 launch gets them into the mainstream and profitable.
Rivian is making some of the best looking EVs on the market.
I’m not surprised. A lot of companies in Germany hire students and pay like 1.000€/month for this kind of work instead of creating automated processes. When you tell them that they need to hire engineers for the automation, they complain how expensive to hire them and instead they can just hire bunch of students by paying less to let them do the work manually.
I can see the culture shock here. Some German states have what amount to technical high schools. If these are Working Students from a mechanical/engineering type school it’s probably simply “different but not wrong.” For the working students they get to put Bosch on their resume and get paid ok for what would probably just count as course credits in the US.
My experience with working for my specific German company (a wildly thin skinned brand so I’ll leave them unnamed so I don’t get fired) is we generally over promise and under deliver at a high price. We seem to sell to large firms that then do the same based on what the local teams tell me. Brand is so powerful that bad deals just get renegotiated, and new contracts can be drawn up to replace the old ones. Even when they’re unhappy with us or we are unhappy with our own suppliers, we all renew each year so long as it’s a German business dealing with a German business. Breaking a contract without remuneration, even if you’re in the right, is seemingly a cultural business sin and that’s when words get sharp and the “take care of me and I’ll take care of you” yearly renewals go away.
Our contracts are wildly complicated and our legal team for Germany inserts poison pills that would hurt ourselves if we needed to shut down an unprofitable line of business. I’m not a lawyer, much less a German lawyer, so I don’t know if this is normal. One of the companies in my portfolio of products has a clauses that would cost the company 3x what the revenue of the product is in penalties. I don’t know why this is there but perhaps it’s part of this seeming social contract between firms.