Rivian and Volkswagen Group intend to form joint venture
American electric vehicle manufacturer and automotive tech and outdoor recreation company Rivian Automotive, Inc. and German-based passenger and commercial vehicles, motorcycles, engines and turbomachinery public multinational conglomerate manufacturer Volkswagen Group have announced plans to enter a joint venture.
Equally owned and controlled, the joint venture is expected to develop next-gen electrical architecture and industry-leading software tech. The partnership is intended to enable both companies to lower the per-vehicle cost by increasing scale and fast-tracking innovation the world over.
The software-defined vehicles that will be developed in the joint venture are expected to be based on Rivian’s in-market zonal hardware design and integrated tech platform.
Under the collaboration, Rivian is anticipated to license its current intellectual property rights and aims to provide its electrical architecture competence. The vehicles manufactured by both the companies under the partnership are intended to be launched sometime between 2025 and 2030.
The joint endeavor, in the short term, is anticipated to enable utilization of the current electrical architecture and software platform of Rivian by Volkswagen Group, in line with its goal to fast-track Volkswagen Group’s software-defined vehicle plans and shift to a complete zonal architecture.
“Our customers benefit from the targeted partnership with Rivian to create a leading technology architecture,” said Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume in a press release. “Through our cooperation, we will bring the best solutions to our vehicles faster and at lower cost.”
He added, “We are also acting in the best interest of our strong brands, which will inspire with their iconic products. The partnership fits seamlessly with our existing software strategy, our products, and partnerships. We are strengthening our technology profile and our competitiveness.”
Volkswagen Group is expected to achieve that in return for an initial $1 billion investment in Rivian, with up to $4 billion in planned additional investment for a total expected deal size of $5 billion.
“Not only is this partnership expected to bring our software and associated zonal architecture to an even broader market through Volkswagen Group’s global reach, but this partnership also is expected to help secure our capital needs for substantial growth,” said Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe.
Photo via Newsroom on Rivian US’s website
