Business
Rivian and Volkswagen Group Announce Plans for Joint Venture to Create Industry-Leading Vehicle Software Technology and for Strategic Investment by Volkswagen
Rivian and Volkswagen Group intend to enter a joint venture to create next generation software-defined vehicle (SDV) platforms to be used in both companies’
About this update from Rivian Automotive, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\nRivian and Volkswagen Group intend to enter a joint venture to create next generation software-defined vehicle (SDV) platforms to be used in both companies’ future electric vehicles\n\n\n\nVolkswagen Group to invest an initial $1 billion in Rivian, with up to $4 billion in planned additional investment for a total expected deal size of $5 billion\n\n\n\nJoint venture is expected to build on Rivian’s industry-leading software and electrical architecture to create best-in-class software-defined vehicle technology platform\n\n\n\n IRVINE, Calif. & WOLFSBURG, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nRivian Automotive (NASDAQ: RIVN) and Volkswagen Group (XETRA: VOW / VOW3) have today announced their intention to form an equally controlled and owned joint venture (JV) to create next-generation electrical architecture and best-in-class software technology.\n\nThis press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240625966539/en/Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen Group and RJ Scaringe, Founder and CEO of Rivian announce joint venture plans. (Photo: Business Wire)\nThe partnership is anticipated to accelerate the development of software for Rivian and Volkswagen Group. It is expected to allow both companies to combine their complementary strengths and lower cost per vehicle by increasing scale and speeding up innovation globally. Rivian’s proven in-market zonal hardware design and integrated technology platform are expected to serve as the foundation for future SDV development in the JV that will be applied to both companies’ vehicles. Rivian plans to contribute its electrical architecture expertise and is expected to license existing intellectual property rights to the joint venture.\n\n\nBoth companies aim to launch vehicles benefiting from the technology created within the joint venture in the second half of the decade. In the short term, the joint venture is expected to enable Volkswagen Group to utilize Rivian’s existing electrical architecture and software platform. The partnership’s ambition is to accelerate Volkswagen Group’s SDV plans and transition to a pure zonal architecture. Each company will continue to separately operate their respective vehicle businesses.\n\n\nOliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen Group said:\n\n\n“Our customers benefit from the targeted partnership with Rivian to cre...