Shares of electric-truck start-up Rivian Automotive are lower Monday, giving back some of a recent epic run. The reason is that one competitor is lowering prices, while a few more are launching new electric vehicles.
Rivian stock (ticker: RIVN) is off 1.8% in early trading Monday, while the
S&P 500
is up 0.1%, and the
Nasdaq Composite
is up 0.5%.
Shares slipped after
Tesla
‘s (TSLA) announcement over the weekend that it had produced the first Cybertruck at its assembly facility in Austin, Texas. The Cybertruck, introduced in 2019, is hitting roads soon, and will compete with Rivian’s R1T.
Tesla stock is up 2.7% in early trading.
After Tesla came
Ford Motor
(F). Monday, Ford announced it was cutting prices of its F-150 Lightning all-electric pickup by up to $10,000. Ford and Rivian have been vying for U.S. electric truck dominance for about a year. Ford delivered more electric trucks in the U.S. than Rivian in the fourth quarter of 2022. Rivian delivered more in the first and second quarter of 2023.
An R1T starts under $75,000. The base model Lightning now starts at about $50,000, down from $60,000. Tesla’s Cybertruck was originally priced at roughly $40,000 to $70,000, but that was a 2019 price list.
Ford stock is down 3.2% in early trading, following its price cut.
General Motors
stock (GM) is off 2.2%.
GM didn’t announce anything, but its Chevy Silverado electric pickup is due to be shipped in the third quarter to initial commercial customers. The Silverado, Lightning, and Cybertruck are full-size pickups, a little larger than the RIT, but for now, they all are looking to convert drivers of gasoline-powered trucks to electric models.
Full-size pickup trucks account for roughly 15% of total U.S. light-vehicle sales.
Coming into Monday trading, Rivian stock has been on a tear, up about 80% over the past three weeks. Rivian shares rose partly because second-quarter production of 13,992 vehicles beat Wall Street expectations for about 11,000 units.
With production news in the past, investors are worrying about competition.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]
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