On July 25th, Caijing News reported that sometimes business competitors may better explain a company's predicament. Rivian, which has been in the electric vehicle field for many years, has always been one of Tesla's tough competitors. In the face of Tesla's declining market share, RJ Scaringe, CEO of Rivian, has his own thoughts.

In an interview this week, Scaringe pointed out that although Tesla's Model Y and Model 3 are very good, they have saturated the market, and consumers want to see more choices. He added that there aren't many electric vehicles in the $50,000 price range on the market, and the number of good products is very limited. Because Model Y is popular in the global market, some electric vehicle companies want to simply copy its appearance and temperament, rather than roll out new styles like traditional fuel vehicles.

He emphasized that this does not mean that Model Y is not a good car, but that the market needs more diversification.

According to data from JATO Dynamics, Tesla's Model Y won the world's best-selling electric vehicle crown in 2023, but another set of data earlier this month showed that Tesla's market share in the United States fell below 50% for the first time, causing widespread concern.

Tesla's Q2 earnings report showed that as of the June quarter, Tesla's sales fell by 4.8% and profits fell by 45%. This weak earnings report also caused the company's stock price to plummet, further exacerbating market pessimism.

"New product needs new market?" In Scaringe's view, one reason why the good car Model Y doesn't sell is that the novelty has worn off. He also pointed out that customers waiting outside may prefer an electric car with an SUV shape, but the best choices on the market may only be Model Y or Model Y-like vehicles, which makes them prefer to postpone their purchases.

He believes that there is a lot of potential demand in the market right now, and more products differentiated on appearance, packaging, brand, and decoration will drive these customers to switch from internal combustion engine cars to electric vehicles.

The old opponent of Musk also said that Rivian tries not to get involved in politics, or even pay attention to Musk's political speeches or preferences, but focuses on creating great products.

As for the electric vehicle market itself, Scaringe's view is not empty talk. Although Rivian is preparing to release multiple new models, the electric vehicle products sold in the United States are actually quite fixed in terms of models, and some manufacturers have cut back on new model development due to the recent contraction of the electric vehicle market.

Earlier this year, Musk canceled Tesla's highly anticipated low-cost electric car plan and claimed that the company would transition to developing self-driving taxis. Ford and General Motors have also recently abandoned their ambitious electric vehicle development plans.

For auto manufacturers, controlling costs and finding new profit points are in line with commercial logic, but perhaps Scaringe's views are also worth studying: rather than shrinking along with the existing market, it is better to develop new markets through new products, but this is not an easy task.

In this week's interview, Scaringe added that the electric vehicle market lacks diversity, causing many consumers to be unwilling to enter.

He emphasized that the current electric vehicle market lacks diversity, which causes many consumers to be unwilling to enter. He added that some electric vehicle manufacturers want to simply copy the appearance and temperament of Model Y after seeing its success, but Model Y and Model 3 have already saturated the market.

He emphasized that this does not mean that Model Y is not a good car, but that the market needs more diversification.

He believes that there is a lot of potential demand in the market right now, and more products differentiated on appearance, packaging, brand, and decoration will drive these customers to switch from internal combustion engine cars to electric vehicles.

Editor/Emily