Volkswagen has just created a new company dedicated to electric cars with the young American manufacturer Rivian. This project will allow the German firm to fill some of its shortcomings, or even avoid the risk of eventual disappearance. And we now know the backstage of the story.
If you follow automotive news, you are probably aware that the situation is currently very complicated for Volkswagen. Indeed, the German firm has implemented a drastic plan to save money, while it is losing a lot of money and is having difficulty selling its electric cars. Not to mention its delay on the software part.
A new partnership with Rivian
Difficulties that we owe to its subsidiary Cariadwhich accumulates oddities, to the point of endangering the very future of the manufacturer. Because the latter is responsible for developing both the SSP platform, which should finally arrive in 2028, but also everything related to remote updates and autonomous driving, among others. In short, it's a bit of a disaster for the German manufacturer, which must find a solution. And this one is called Rivian.
It is a young American manufacturer, founded in 2009, which already markets several electric models, including the new R2 which will have the right to new batteries. And now Volkswagen, which already collaborates with Xpeng and IM Motors, has just announced a new partnership with the Michigan-based start-up. The latter takes the form of a joint venture, materialized by an investment of 5.8 billion dollars from the German group.
But what pushed him to make this decision? Well here it is that Wall Street Journal tells us a little more about it. According to him, “ VW's big wake-up call was the Shanghai auto show in April 2023, when the automaker saw first-hand that digital features such as automated driving and voice control were proliferating on Chinese cars, while Cariad continued to miss deadlines “. It was then that the group decided to work with Xpeng.
But he quickly realized that that wouldn't be enough and also turned to Rivian. The newspaper explains that Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen, “ met with Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe at the Porsche Performance Center in Atlanta “. Negotiations quickly came to fruition, to the point that the two companies formed “ dedicated teams » to this project. Then, very quickly, things accelerated. Audi sent a Q6 e-tron to the United States, which was equipped with components supplied by Rivian.
Increasingly strong competition
Volkswagen Group Research Director Michael Steiner also explained that “ We used to think that if something wasn't invented within the VW ecosystem, it might not be enough. Today it's over. We can't pushing technological limits alone in all areas “. Far from being an admission of failure, this declaration proves that the manufacturer is aware that it must delegate certain tasks to other partners such as Rivian, among others.
The CEO of the new Scout brand, who recently unveiled two new concept cars, also declared that “ everything that comes to the new cars will come from this joint venture, not from existing components “. What will happen to the platform dedicated to electricity developed by the American start-up? This should be used to equip the next Volkswagen models, but it could be reworked and improved. That's not all, because Rivian should also provide its expertise in infotainment.
Enough to allow the German manufacturer to better compete with Chinese manufacturersmore and more numerous on the market. In addition, the latter will be able to reduce its development and production costs, which will obviously benefit its cash flow but also the price of its electric cars. It is entirely likely that the future ID.2 will also benefit from this joint venture, which will allow it to display an entry ticket below 25,000 euros in order to compete with the Renault 5 E-Tech.
