Rivian now #2 US EV brand, up from #10, as Big Auto marginalizes itself — SkimNews
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- Rivian climbed from #10 to #2 among US EV brands in Q3, per Cox Automotive's quarterly sales report, vaulting past Chevrolet which previously held the spot.
- Rivian's R2 booked 3,456 units in Q3 just months after launch; the company plans lower-end ~$50,000 variants aimed at Tesla Model Y buyers, well below the ~$80,000 R1S.
- Tesla remained the US's best-selling EV brand but saw a nearly 20% year-over-year sales drop, with the article attributing its troubles more to its CEO's political spending than to EV demand.
- Only Mercedes, Lexus, Toyota, Subaru, and Rivian posted Q3 EV sales gains in Cox's data; every other tracked brand declined, with several having canceled previously top-selling EV models.
- UC Davis research found that US automakers are "almost universally refusing to make EVs," opting to cut or kill models rather than build them, per the article.
- The industry-wide Q3 contraction follows last year's purchase rush ahead of Republican-led expiration of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, with global oil-price spikes cited as a tailwind EV sales have so far failed to capture in the US.
Why it matters: Rivian leapfrogging nine spots while Tesla shed nearly 20% of its volume shows the US EV race is being remade by rivals retreating rather than demand surging. With R2 still ramping and a sub-$50K target on the horizon, Rivian is positioned to pressure Tesla's Model Y base, but the broader market's contraction means aggregate volume growth depends on competitors reversing the model cancellations already on the books.
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