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More info on upcoming Rivian-derived Ford product


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We're getting a little more information on the upcoming Rivian-derived Ford product, most likely one of the Lincoln electric SUVs that has been mentioned. Looks like it will be a big one, likely a 3-row. Rivian says they will begin production of their own pickup in December this year and their SUV three months later. They have not said anything specific about the Lincoln product, including when its production will begin (though looks like it could be as early as next year), noting that such information is for Ford to announce, but this got my attention:

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"Ford is designing its own so-called 'top hat'—an EV-specific term for the vehicle bodies that use the skateboard architecture—for its high-end electric SUV, but since it will ride on the common architecture, features such as the company's unique infotainment system must be designed to run on Rivian's electrical systems. Scaringe would not say when Ford production begins, but design and engineering are locked in and ready to roll. 'It's a very different product from our own SUV, but it's still in the SUV space,' Scaringe says. While Rivian is going after the adventure market, Ford will pursue luxury buyers, which leads us to deduce it will be sold as a Lincoln. Scaringe would not confirm this supposition, as it's Ford's announcement to make, he said. He did say the Ford SUV is 'an impressive product, to say the least.' "

 

https://www.motortrend.com/news/rivian-readies-production-electric-trucks-suvs-ford-lincoln-amazon/

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15 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

Interesting that design/engineering is locked in already.  So I wonder when we'll see this start appearing.  Mid 2022 sounds far off

Well, if production of the Rivian SUVs start in March 2021, production of the Lincoln vehicles could begin anytime after that -- assuming it is as far along as claimed. So, could be a model year 2022 coming out as early as spring or summer of 2021, theoretically.

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I got to attend a Focus group that I'm pretty sure was for Rivian a couple of weeks ago.  They never said for sure but they only showed one video and it was about Rivian.  It was for both Trucks and SUV owners but I only got Truck questions.  We saw exterior paint samples and pictures of the interior trim samples and packages then answered about 50 questions - most of which was choosing between 6 different BEV pickup configurations from multiple mfrs including Rivian, Ford, Land Rover and a couple of others.  Nothing Rivian specific - just different combinations of bed sizes, battery range, cost, drivetrains (number of motors, 2wd vs 4wd) and you had to pick one.  Then some questions about how much we would pay for certain features.   Only 3 of our group of 16 were asked to stay for a followup session - I assume they got to see the SUV since most of the ones who were dismissed were pickup owners.  It was pretty cool and they paid $150 for 1 hour of work.  Was hoping to see an actual vehicle though.

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3 minutes ago, akirby said:

I got to attend a Focus group that I'm pretty sure was for Rivian a couple of weeks ago.  They never said for sure but they only showed one video and it was about Rivian.  It was for both Trucks and SUV owners but I only got Truck questions.  We saw exterior paint samples and pictures of the interior trim samples and packages then answered about 50 questions - most of which was choosing between 6 different BEV pickup configurations from multiple mfrs including Rivian, Ford, Land Rover and a couple of others.  Nothing Rivian specific - just different combinations of bed sizes, battery range, cost, drivetrains (number of motors, 2wd vs 4wd) and you had to pick one.  Then some questions about how much we would pay for certain features.   Only 3 of our group of 16 were asked to stay for a followup session - I assume they got to see the SUV since most of the ones who were dismissed were pickup owners.  It was pretty cool and they paid $150 for 1 hour of work.  Was hoping to see an actual vehicle though.


I always thought it'd be fun to be a part of one of these focus groups.

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4 minutes ago, akirby said:

I got to attend a Focus group that I'm pretty sure was for Rivian a couple of weeks ago.  They never said for sure but they only showed one video and it was about Rivian.  It was for both Trucks and SUV owners but I only got Truck questions.  We saw exterior paint samples and pictures of the interior trim samples and packages then answered about 50 questions - most of which was choosing between 6 different BEV pickup configurations from multiple mfrs including Rivian, Ford, Land Rover and a couple of others.  Nothing Rivian specific - just different combinations of bed sizes, battery range, cost, drivetrains (number of motors, 2wd vs 4wd) and you had to pick one.  Then some questions about how much we would pay for certain features.   Only 3 of our group of 16 were asked to stay for a followup session - I assume they got to see the SUV since most of the ones who were dismissed were pickup owners.  It was pretty cool and they paid $150 for 1 hour of work.  Was hoping to see an actual vehicle though.

 

Any backstory on how they picked you?

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25 minutes ago, mackinaw said:

 

Any backstory on how they picked you?

 

It's a company that hosts these locally (Atlanta) for all sorts of products and services so once you're in their database they send you notifications for anything they think you'd be interested in/qualify for.   The first one I attended there was to look at and comment on the exterior of the about to be new Camry ( I think it was the 2012 model) before it debuted.   We all owned a competing vehicle of some kind so they may have pulled it from vehicle registrations.  For that one we got to look at the exterior for about 10 minutes and then had a group discussion and answered questions.  Nobody liked it.  The best thing we could say is the wheels were nice and the new headlights looked a lot better.  :)

 

For this one I originally answered a long survey with about 25 different questions about your future purchase intentions, current vehicle, whether you were part of the media or a blogger, etc.  Originally they told me my demographic quota was already filled but a week later they called back and helped me modify some of my answers to get me in (I guess they were low on participants).

 

Back in 2002 I was invited to a session at Chateau Elan where we were shown 3 vehicles, answered questions and then got to drive all 3 back to back and answer more questions.  One was an Acura MDX, I think the 2nd one was a BMW X5 and the 3rd one was the new Lincoln Aviator debuting later that year.  It was obvious it was for Lincoln since that was the only preproduction vehicle.   That was a lot of fun.   No idea how I got picked for that one either - just assumed it came from Ford's customer database.   We ended up buying a 2003 Aviator at the end of that model year.

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22 hours ago, akirby said:

I got to attend a Focus group that I'm pretty sure was for Rivian a couple of weeks ago.  They never said for sure but they only showed one video and it was about Rivian.  It was for both Trucks and SUV owners but I only got Truck questions.  We saw exterior paint samples and pictures of the interior trim samples and packages then answered about 50 questions - most of which was choosing between 6 different BEV pickup configurations from multiple mfrs including Rivian, Ford, Land Rover and a couple of others.  Nothing Rivian specific - just different combinations of bed sizes, battery range, cost, drivetrains (number of motors, 2wd vs 4wd) and you had to pick one.  Then some questions about how much we would pay for certain features.   Only 3 of our group of 16 were asked to stay for a followup session - I assume they got to see the SUV since most of the ones who were dismissed were pickup owners.  It was pretty cool and they paid $150 for 1 hour of work.  Was hoping to see an actual vehicle though.

Maybe those three were on the money with answers that closely aligned with what Ford was making. It wouldn’t be the first time that Ford has cliniced vehicles that way, they start designing something and try to steer market research in that direction. Not saying that’s the case here but it strange that only three of your group got to see the vehicle.

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1 hour ago, jpd80 said:

Maybe those three were on the money with answers that closely aligned with what Ford was making. It wouldn’t be the first time that Ford has cliniced vehicles that way, they start designing something and try to steer market research in that direction. Not saying that’s the case here but it strange that only three of your group got to see the vehicle.


It was Rivian not Ford, and I don’t know for sure that they got to see anything.  That was just a guess.  But these are run by a 3rd party and in my experience they just want buyers in the right demographic.

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If you live in Detroit this company does a lot of the market studies. http://cypherresearch.com/questionnaire.php

 

You can also follow them on Facebook and they will post surveys the need people for. There was one a few month ago where they wanted Subaru Outback owners, can only assume it was for the new Fusion Wagon. They also had one in December where they gave you free beer and paid you to drink it. https://facebook.com/researchdetroit/

 

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On 1/25/2020 at 2:51 PM, silvrsvt said:

I'm going to assume the Rivian based SUV is going to be called the Continental(due to the sedans timeline) and will be the price topper of the Lincoln range

 

I wonder if it'll be something low slung - a kind of quasi sedan-crossover thing - like something Phantom-esque that's basically the size of Flex.

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