Rivian secures naming rights for six further vehicle models
After its R1T pickup and R1S SUV, the US electric car start-up Rivian is planning six more models by 2025. Appropriately, the company has now registered six new model names under trademark law.
According to the Rivian Owners Forum, the names are R3S, R4S, R5S, R3T, R4T and R5T. For the first two Rivian models, the ‘S’ stands for the SUV and the ‘T’ for the corresponding pickup truck.
However, it remains open which segments the respective numbers are supposed to stand for. So far, Rivian has only announced that it is planning smaller models for Europe and China – the SUV R1S, for example, is optionally offered as a seven-seater. As the number increases, the models could therefore become smaller – or, similar to Polestar, simply correspond to the order in which they will be launched on the market.
There is a simple reason why Rivian has not registered the obvious designations R2S and R2T in the current application: Rivian already owns the naming rights in the automotive sector. The American company already had the abbreviations R1A, R1C, R1V, R2A, R2C, R2R, R2S, R2T and R2X protected in addition to the model names used. What the other letters might stand for is not yet known. There is speculation about SUV coupés or performance offshoots, for example. However, it is also common practice for companies to have possible designations protected at an early stage in order to avoid naming problems later on.
Rivian had announced in mid-July that it would sell its vehicles in Europe from the beginning of 2022 – but it is still open with which models. According to earlier rumours, Rivian wants to concentrate on the R1S SUV, as the R1T pickup is considered to have fewer market opportunities in Europe.
The company is also apparently pushing ahead with plans for a second US plant. While the current plant in Normal, Illinois, was a former Mitsubishi plant, ‘Project Tera’ is said to be a new building for Rivian – possibly also with connected battery cell production. According to Reuters, the city of Mesa, near Phoenix in Arizona, is one of the cities in the running.
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