Las acciones de Rivian se disparan con la inyección de capital de $5B de Volkswagen

It is no secret that EV manufacturers have been struggling in 2024.  Just last week, informamos del inevitable colapso de Fisker despite its valiant efforts to stay afloat.  While its woes are not nearly as pronounced as Fisker’s, Rivian is another example of a high-potential EV maker that just hasn’t managed to get a foothold in the auto market like many originally expected.  Thankfully for it, a new joint venture involving Volkswagen has just resulted in an immediate infusion of $1B, with another $4B on the way.

Detalles del Acuerdo

Interestingly, the deal is more than just an investment.  Rather, it represents a commitment from each company to establish a joint venture that will see Volkswagen leverage Rivian’s existing tech stack while the pair work together to expedite EV adoption.  In a joint press release, the companies stated,

“Se anticipa que la asociación acelerará el desarrollo de software para Rivian y el Grupo Volkswagen. Se espera que permita a ambas compañías combinar sus fortalezas complementarias y reducir el costo por vehículo al aumentar la escala y acelerar la innovación a nivel global. El diseño de hardware zonal probado en el mercado de Rivian y su plataforma tecnológica integrada se espera que sirvan como base para el desarrollo futuro de SDV en la empresa conjunta, que se aplicará a los vehículos de ambas compañías.

Rivian planea aportar su experiencia en arquitectura eléctrica y se espera que licencie los derechos de propiedad intelectual existentes a la empresa conjunta.

By establishing this joint venture, Volkswagen now joins Ford as another prominent traditional automaker to invest in Rivian.

Respuesta del Mercado

In response to Volkswagen’s commitment to Rivian, the market response was overwhelmingly positive, with the price of RIVN skyrocketing nearly 40% at the time of writing.

RIVN Gráfico de precios

While this is most certainly a welcome turn of events for investors in Rivian, shares in the company remain down 50% on the year.

Invertir en un Competidor

On another related note, the iconic SUV known as the Scout is coming back in 2026.  Built by Scout Motors, the vehicle- slated for a hotly anticipated unveiling later this summer – will be an all-electric, offroad-focused offering available as an SUV or Truck.  It also happens to be owned by Volkswagen.

With such a similar offering of its own already in the works, it is interesting to see that Volkswagen has decided to expose itself even further to what are essentially niche vehicles in an already niche industry.  Clearly, Volkswagen strongly believes in the future of the EV sector and is betting on North America’s love for nostalgia and big, utilitarian vehicles to help ensure its success.  By establishing this new joint venture, it appears likely that both companies should mutually benefit from the creation of ‘arquitectura eléctrica de próxima generación y tecnología de software de primera clase.’