Yes, other things the company or CEO does are also diluting the brand. It’s still true that the company can be making a rational decision not to attack this segment.
Rivian’s marketing people probably hate that they’re doing this, but the company had $2.5B revenue and still lost $1.6B the first half of 2025. They’re in survival mode.
Counterpoint: Mercedes-Benz fleet vans.
They're literally Mercedes today though.
Edit: ugh I see at least two others made exactly this same point while I was typing my comment. I guess it shows that it's a valid one...
https://www.caranddriver.com/photos/g69178144/lexus-ls-van-c...
…oh wait.
Teslas have terrible quality control, they’re impossible to get rapidly serviced, and they are run by a mercurial adversarial asshole. What kind of fleet manager worth their salt would _ever_ consider Tesla?
Somehow I doubt it. It's a big payday for the company and a big vote of confidence by a customer that doesn't mess around (as far as practical concerns go, ethics obviously doubtful). If Rivian wants to sell practical work EVs, this is their ideal scenario. People actually in the market for EV vans are going to do the math, and mostly won't care about the vague contamination by association with the Amazon brand.
And moreover, Tesla has been talking up plans for its vaporware semi for ages. If they wanted to avoid diluting the brand, they wouldn't promise such a thing.
Amazon runs a program called "Delivery Service Partners" which basically certifies small businesses to deliver Amazon packages. They are given the option of using their own fleet of vehicles if they don't want to lease the vehicles designed by Amazon.
https://electrek.co/2019/09/19/rivian-electric-delivery-vans...
https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/transportation/everything-y...
https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/tag/rivian
Rivian Fleet:
https://electrek.co/2023/12/14/rivian-rivn-first-non-amazon-...
https://electrek.co/2025/02/10/rivian-will-now-sell-its-comm...
Found an article
https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2022/11/18/dsnys-electric-trucks...
It also suggests NYC was moving forward with the program and bought seven more trucks which would have already aged out by now.
1. Without having a traditional front grill or badge that is associated with the brand unlike those of legacy makers, Rivian's headlights are a design element which is instantly recognizable as being a Rivian. Even if you post a minimalist silhouette of the front facia, you would know it's a Rivian.
2. The design lends itself well to future evolution, even if the exact dimensions of the vertical oval lights and the bisecting horizontal light bar are changed/tweaked over time, so long as that general design is kept, they will still be identifiable as a Rivian.
Just my two cents as someone with no design expertise and who happens to like the way the headlights and front facia look.
For the sake of the Ontario automotive industry and its workers, Canada would probably not eliminate the tariff on Chinese EVs.
But a significant reduction would make sense.
The anti Asia tariffs only make sense if Canada's current allies actually treat them like allies..
JKCalhoun•13h ago
(One hand clapping?)
jjtheblunt•12h ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/antarctica/comments/18zxx2e/amazon_...
rootusrootus•12h ago
toomuchtodo•12h ago
renewiltord•12h ago
zdragnar•11h ago
Two hours later, groceries and a new computer dropped off on my doorstep. Prime Now is probably the only thing I miss about the cities now that I'm out in the country.