US automakers face trade barriers, resource constraints, and limited domestic supply chains — challenges that tariffs or protectionism alone cannot solve, Rivian‘s founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said.
On the ‘Electric Everything’ podcast, Scaringe praised Chinese EV makers when comparing them with Western brands.
“The part that everyone needs to take note of is that these are technically very advanced vehicles,” Rivian‘s founder stated.
He added that, with the exception of Tesla and Rivian, they “are more advanced than a lot, I should say, most of the Western vehicle manufacturers.”
Rivian is currently selling its EVs in North America with plans to expand to Europe by 2027 with its R2 SUV.
To the CEO, “it’s inconceivable that Western markets would not allow their domestic manufacturers to produce in China,” while allowing “freely those Chinese companies to produce in China and sell.”
Scaringe noted that the success of the Chinese EV makers also comes from lower costs on both manufacturing and labor.
“We’ve taken lots of cars apart, every car manufacturer does,” and “there’s not something magical when you take it apart that’s allowing these really impressive cost structures.”
To Scaringe, “there’s no secret magic thing that you’re like,’ Oh, aha, they did this.’ But rather it’s the compounding benefits of a lower cost of capital.”
However, he does not incentivize protectionism, as many industries in the US rely on rare earth minerals — which Scaringe had already said earlier this year that would be “a real challenge for electric vehicles,” as the import tariffs between both China and the US rapidly rose.
Shortly after the company reported its second quarter results, the CEO again mentioned the impact of China’s export controls on heavy rare earth metals during April.
“It really hurt us because we only make electric cars and every electric car needs magnets to make the motor,” Scaringe stated then.
On Monday, he noted that “as you think about future technologies, we actually don’t have the same geological advantages that we had in the fossil fuel area, so by necessity it requires trade.”
It requires trade “often with countries that we haven’t historically traded as much with,” such as Indonesia, the chief executive exemplified.
Scaringe noted that the Trump Administration “really does understand” what the US companies are facing.
However, “there’s not an ability for us to press a button and have a nickel supply chain, nickel mines pop up in the United States.”
When asked about Chinese EV brand’s global success, Scaringe mentioned in a Fox Business interview in April that, for the California-based brand, “a huge part of this is giving customers choice.”
“If you’re looking at buying an electric vehicle for under $50,000 today, there’s really very, very few highly compelling choices,” the executive noted.
According to Scaringe, “you’ve seen Tesla with [a] very significant market share for a long time now, over 50% market share. And that’s actually a reflection of limited great choices.”
Rivian‘s upcoming R2 SUV, expected to cost about $45,000, will launch in the first half of 2026.
Scaringe stated in the latest earnings call in August that the company is still committed to start production of the R2 at its Normal, Illinois plant, with an allocated capacity of 155,000 units.
