Toronto, Ontario —This week, we look into the effect of Tesla’s new global incentive program (available in Canada!) while Rivian celebrates success despite hefty accusations.
Tesla’a latest move in the EV price war
Tesla has launched a new incentive program allowing customers across the globe to get extra incentives through referrals from their pals.
The OEM calls the program “Refer and Earn,” and, in the U.S., incentives are equivalent to $500 in cash back, plus three months of free Self Driving.
The program was rolled out in the United States, China, Germany, France, Mexico, Hong Kong, Singapore and, of course, Canada, last Friday. Analysts suspect it’s another tactic in the ongoing price war among global EV makers.
Tesla stock has increased more than 125 percent in the last six months. As of Monday at 11:30 a.m., shares traded at US$269.07 each.
Rivian sets record amid lawsuit accusations
Rivian is facing a lawsuit claiming the OEM defrauded shareholders during and after its IPO in 2021 by “concealing that is had underpriced its electric vehicles, leading to unpopular price hikes,” wrote Reuters.
Shareholders could try to prove that Rivian knew it would have to raise prices on its all-electric SUV and pickup models due to higher material costs, and in an attempt to avoid greater losses.
Back in March 2022, the EV maker raises its R1S SUV price by nearly US$15,000, and increased the price tag on the R1T pickup by US$12,000. Amid backlash, company CEO R.J. Scaringe rescinded the price change for customers that had pre-ordered vehicles prior to the March price hikes and apologized for “breaking [customers’] trust.”
The lawsuit’s claims have done little to damper the OEM’s stock growth, though. Rivian is up nearly 90 percent this month, largely thanks to better-than-expected quarterly delivers for Q2 2023. The company delivered 12,640 vehicles.
Rivian set a daily trading volume record on Friday, in response to the news, with 180 million shares traded.
As of Monday at 11:30 a.m. EST, Rivian traded at US$26.42 per share; up 88.8 percent in July, but down 79 percent since its Nov. 2021 IPO.
