We now know that Tesla is heavily overvalued on the stock market. But it can be even crazier, as Rivian proves this week. The manufacturer of electric SUVs and pick-ups – which has just started production – went public and is worth more than BMW and Ford in one fell swoop.
Rivian was founded in 2009 and started developing electric cars two years later. The company is backed by Amazon and Ford, among others, who both have an interest. Rivian’s first production models are the R1S (a plug-in SUV) and the R1T (an electric pickup). The latter has been built since September. The first cars have now been delivered to customers.
Rivian is already worth more than Daimler, GM, Ford and BMW
This week Rivian went public. The company was immediately worth $90 billion and has grown to more than $120 billion at the time of writing. This makes Rivian more valuable than Daimler (the parent company of Mercedes), GM, Ford, BMW and Stellantis (the parent company of Alfa Romeo, Citroën, DS, Fiat, Opel and Peugeot). Tesla is number one, with a bizarre market value of $1 trillion. The number two and three are Toyota (250 billion) and Volkswagen (140 billion).
The stock market value has nothing to do with the actual value
In the case of the newcomers Tesla and Rivian, the stock market value no longer has anything to do with the actual value. Tesla built just under 500,000 cars in 2020 and made a profit of $720 million. Toyota – with a four times lower market value – produced more than 9.5 million vehicles and wrote black figures worth no less than 20 billion dollars. Rivian just delivered a few dozen cars. The goal is to reach an annual volume of 1 million by 2030.
With a full battery, the Rivian R1T can travel a maximum of 640 kilometers
Rivian now claims to have nearly 55,000 reservations for the R1S and R1T. In addition, 100,000 electric delivery vans have been ordered by investment partner Amazon. The Rivian R1T offers space for five people and not only has a cargo box at the rear, but also a luggage compartment in the front. There are three variants: with a 105 kWh, 135 kWh or 180 kWh battery, which gives the truck a range of 370, 480 and 640 kilometers respectively. The R1S SUV comes to comparable values.