The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.
(Questions from industry analysts are provided in full, but answers are omitted - download the transcript to see the full question-and-answer session)
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: <_ALACRA_META_ABSTRACT>So I want to actually just for a start, you have a big event coming up. You have your AVAI Day on December 11. So just give us a
sneak peak of what we can expect.
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: A lot to look out for.
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: Great. Okay. More near term, I want to go back to -- you had your 3Q results recently. And I think what struck us as really maybe the
most noteworthy piece of that result was the profit per unit. So it's still negative, but this was the best ever gross profit per unit that
you've ever posted. And I know there were some moving pieces in there on EDV versus fixed cost absorption. But maybe you can
just talk more broadly right now about the gross profit trends we've seen on the current line-up, R1 and the vans, and what the
future trajectory is? And does this give us any indication on what R2 can shape up to be.
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: Are we seeing it right now in the numbers the benefits of that changeover from Gen 1 to Gen 2 to R1? And have you -- I think on our
numbers, it looks like you've flipped the script on now the vehicles are variable margin positive. Are we seeing that playing out?
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: Okay. I want to double click on a comment you made on R2, and I think this is where there's been a lot of attention. So the BOM
costs, right? So BOM being roughly half for R2 of what it is for R1, the non-BOM costs being less than half but in that ballpark. What
is your line of sight on this, and how do we get comfortable that this is going to play out?
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: Walk us through the trajectory to get to positive contribution margin. And then eventually, you targeted exiting 2026 at total gross
margin positive. Is the story here -- maybe you could just walk us through the fixed versus the variable costs. If it's fair to assume
that the fixed costs aren't increasing all that much and you've got the contribution margin piece figured out, is this then just a
function of volumes? So walk us through that fixed versus variable dynamic and the path to gross margin positive.
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: Okay. And you mentioned it briefly, but just the cadence of what we should expect on the ramp, there are going to be some
inefficiencies, one line, which implies roughly 50,000 units of annualized capacity, what is the cadence on that ramp? And what's
the trajectory over time to get to the full three-shift production?
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NOVEMBER 19, 2025 / 4:25PM, RIVN.OQ - Rivian Automotive Inc at Barclays Global Automotive and Mobility
Tech Conference
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: Okay, great. Just broadly on the economics of R2, the BOM is fixed, right? That's been in place for a while, but we've seen a lot of
changes in the industry that will impact the way that you're getting profit in terms of the economics that maybe you've planned out
for the vehicle. So be it no EV tax credit, no reg credits, or little to no reg credits, there are some tariff costs now. What are the factors
that are within your control that you can modify, be it on trim configurations, pricing preferences, or any cost considerations? What
is in your control if you mitigate maybe some of those regulatory or macro industry factors?
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: Can you talk about or unpack the tariff side of it, which on the earnings call you mentioned had been running at -- it's running right
now a couple thousand dollars per vehicle, but with the revisions on policy, it gets you down to a couple of hundred dollars. Maybe
what are some of the puts and takes, and is there maybe more opportunity if there's further changes on policy to further narrow
those pressures?
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: And I assume that over time from a battery, even though you're insulating that right now because you have supply on batteries,
over time on R2 because that's going to be localized cell supply, that should also be relatively nominal on the tariff front.
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: Can you help us understand on the reg credits, is this a temporary air pocket or is this something for the next few years we just
shouldn't assume much in the model on reg credit contributions?
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: So adding all of this up, and I'll talk in a bit about the software service side, but you had an investor day a little less than a year and
a half ago and you gave a target of EBITDA breakeven in '27. There's a lot that's changed since then, so we totally understand that.
But given those changes, how should we conceptually think about the path to breakeven whenever that may be?
Is this purely a volume game? Are there other costs in control or, and we'll get to it in a bit, is all of a sudden the software service
revenue piece taking on increased importance?
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: Okay. On that topic, I know there's a lot of debate on demand, and you nor no one has a crystal ball here. Maybe we could just talk
about, and we don't know what the EV uptake is going to look like, we'll find out in the coming months, but I want to start with a
question maybe more on brand because I think some of us would argue there's clearly an opportunity on brand awareness aside
from maybe the coasts. Rivian's probably a far less known brand than some of the legacy names out there or versus Tesla. So as
you're ramping on R2, what is the opportunity on brand awareness and how much of a demand driver do you think that could be?
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: I think we need to see more Gear Guard. On this topic of just what R2 is going to come to, if we do a very, let's call it, traditional comp
analysis and we just say, okay, this is going to comp against a typical luxury two-row crossover, the TAM is underwhelming. But if
we comp this against the broader crossover segment, against Model Y, against the broader brand, all of a sudden it opens up. So
how should we think about the comp set or the TAM for R2?
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: What's the demand or competitive outlook right now on the vans, and I thought it was interesting because on the third-quarter call
you gave us some indication that the van volume outlook actually for next year could be better. Amazon is your anchor customer,
but what is the environment on vans right now?
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NOVEMBER 19, 2025 / 4:25PM, RIVN.OQ - Rivian Automotive Inc at Barclays Global Automotive and Mobility
Tech Conference
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: Maybe just one last one on R2 because we know that R1 benefited heavily from the EV leasing credit. How does the approach on R2
change now that leasing is, I would venture to guess, going to get relatively de-emphasized versus where it was previously?
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: Okay, I want to jump back to the software service side because you said that was incremental versus what you discussed at your
investor day. So how do we -- and the numbers have been good year to date, I think probably better than what most of us expected.
What is the trajectory of that software service revenue margin going forward, and what exactly is driving that right now with the
core business with VW plus you have some other ancillary businesses that are in that revenue stream?
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: Your collaboration with Volkswagen right now I think is just limited to that core network architecture JV, but you've talked about
some opportunities to improve your procurement economics on joint sourcing. So how much opportunity is there? Maybe what's
some of the lower hanging fruit to change the procurement so you're getting better economics on your sourcing, parts sourcing.
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NOVEMBER 19, 2025 / 4:25PM, RIVN.OQ - Rivian Automotive Inc at Barclays Global Automotive and Mobility
Tech Conference
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: And how long does it take to work that self into the BOM?
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: Can you talk about the consideration to license this technology out to other automakers, and I know there's a media article, I think
Wassim has talked publicly, who's heading your CTO, he talked about the opportunity to license this to other automakers. So what
are the considerations? What's the timeline? What does it look like?
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: Can you license out what you're doing on AV to other automakers?
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NOVEMBER 19, 2025 / 4:25PM, RIVN.OQ - Rivian Automotive Inc at Barclays Global Automotive and Mobility
Tech Conference
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: Okay, let's just wrap with a couple of cash balance sheet questions. Maybe one of the questions that's on folks' minds is you're
ramping on R2 next year. Historically, we've seen when there's a big launch that can be a working capital drag. Should we expect a
significant working capital drag related to this?
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: Okay, and then between the VW funding there's still more to come. You have the DOE loan related to Georgia. Do you feel like you
have sufficient resources to comfortably get through the R2 ramp at both Normal and Georgia?
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: Okay, folks, any questions in the room?
Unidentified Participant
Can you talk a little bit about the international opportunity for the R2 and how long that will take? I mean, obviously there's a lot of
debate around electric vehicle demand in the US and in Europe. Obviously, things are still progressing in the right direction for you.
Question: Dan Levy - Barclays Services Corp - Analyst
: Okay, we'll leave it there. Claire, Chip, thank you so much. Looking forward to the AV Day on the 11th. Thank you.
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