A week after electric truck maker Rivian made a blistering entry onto Wall Street, they and Detroit auto giant Ford on Friday announced that they have canceled plans to jointly develop an electric vehicle.
Ford, however, shall maintain its stake in the start-up, after investing $500 million in 2019 when it initially announced its plans to collaborate.
“As Ford has scaled its own EV strategy, and demand for Rivian vehicles has grown, we’ve mutually decided to focus on our own projects and deliveries,” Rivian spokeswoman Miranda Jimenez said.
She added that their relationship with Ford is an important part of their journey, and they shall remain to be an investor and ally on a shared path to an “electrified future.”
In a statement to AFP, Ford also confirmed cancelation.
Demand has surged for Rivian’s R1T pickup trucks, which began production last September. Although the company is loss-making and has delivered less than 200 vehicles as of the end of last month, its value nonetheless soared on its November 10 stock market debut, topping those of traditional automakers General Motors and Ford.
As the stock market closed last Friday, Rivian was reported to be worth $114 billion, compared to Ford at $77 billion.
Much of the enthusiasm was fueled by the start-up’s partnerships with Ford and with Amazon, which plans to buy 100,000 Rivian vans by 2030. Rivian also has been helped by the buzz around electric vehicles among Wall Street traders who have watched the ascent of Elon Musk’s firm Tesla in recent years. Ford, however, has stepped up its own electric vehicle plans, announcing it would invest $30 billion by 2025 for the objective’s success.
