Rivian, Mercedes suspend joint European electric vehicle factory

Electric vehicle maker Rivian is shelving plans to partner with Mercedes-Benz to produce electric trucks in Europe so it can focus on its existing commercial and consumer businesses.

California-based Rivian said on Monday that it was “pausing” a memorandum of understanding signed between the US and German companies in September. That deal calls for a joint venture plant in Europe to manufacture trucks for both companies.

“We have the same goal as Mercedes-Benz Vans, which is to help the world transition tramand we look forward to exploring opportunities with them at a more opportune time for Rivian,” said RJ CEO Scaringe.

Companies was sought to produce two large trucks, one based on the VAN.EA, the electric-only platform of Mercedes-Benz Vans, and the other on the second generation electric valve platform, the Rivian Light Van.

Mercedes-Benz Vans says it will continue to move forward with its own electrification strategy and increase production at the first dedicated electric truck plant in Poland.

Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans Mathias Geisen said: “Exploring strategic opportunities with the team at Rivian in the future remains an option, as we share a common strategic ambition: to accelerate EV adoption. with standard products for our customers”.

About two years ago, Amazon announced it would buy 1,800 electric delivery vans from Mercedes-Benz. It was a year after Amazon, founded by Jeff Bezos, bought a 20% stake in Rivian.

Amazon has also ordered 100,000 delivery trucks from Rivian and said in September that a number of unique whale-like trucks are already on the way, with thousands expected to run in major cities. of the United States by the end of this year.

Within days of becoming a publicly traded company last year, Rivian briefly surpassed Ford and General Motors. Market capitalization as investors eager to join a fast-growing electric-car maker gobble up their stock.

It got $1.5 billion in incentives this year to build a $5 billion electric vehicle factory creating 7,500 jobs east of Atlanta. It hopes to begin production at the plant in 2024 with a goal of producing 400,000 vehicles annually in Georgia.

Rivian has long since lost its title as the second most valuable US car company behind Tesla. Global markets, including the United States, have tumbled this year as broader macro worries fueled by persistent inflation have prompted the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates to their highest levels in more than a year. a decade. High-growth or more risky companies suffer the most.

Shares of Rivian Automotive Inc. fell 2% early Monday and is down 74% this year.

In October, Rivian recalls nearly all of the vehicles it delivered to customers — about 13,000 at the time — to tighten loose tethers that could potentially affect drivers’ drivability.

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