- Ford and Rivian have planned since 2019 to produce a Ford-branded EV together, but as of today, CEO Jim Farley says the deal is off, as reported by Automotive News.
- Ford told Car and Driver in a statement today that the companies have “mutually decided to focus on our own projects and deliveries.”
- According to this report, Ford has decided its own electric-vehicle ramp-up is strong enough that it can build its own EVs without the highly valued startup’s help.
- Farley now says Ford intends to produce 600,000 EVs worldwide by the end of 2023, twice as many as it has previously estimated.
The plan for Ford and EV startup Rivian to produce an electric car together under the Ford brand has been canceled, Automotive News reported today, citing Ford CEO Jim Farley as the source. What’s more, Farley said in an interview with AN that the Ford will now target building 600,000 electric vehicles worldwide by 2024 and aims to become the number-two EV company after Tesla.
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Ford sealed its agreement in April 2019 to collaborate with Rivian by making a $500 million investment. The automaker, according to Wall Street Journal reports, narrowly won the deal ahead of rival General Motors, which was also meeting with Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe in early 2019.
The future Ford was to use Rivian’s “skateboard” platform, which underpins the startup’s own 2022 R1S and R1T EVs. Now, according to Farley, Ford is far enough ahead with its own EV program that it doesn’t need to do that and will develop its own future EVs.
Lincoln had previously intended to produce an electric SUV with Rivian but canceled that plan in 2020. C/D had speculated that it could be called the Mark E, and Lincoln has said it is going forward with plans for such a vehicle, just not one based on the Rivian R1S SUV’s platform.
It bears noting that Rivian had a massively successful IPO earlier in November and that Ford, holding a 12 percent stake in the startup, will have reaped what the Wall Street Journal called a $7-plus-billion “windfall.” And the relationship between Ford and Rivian appears set to continue, with Farley telling AN, “We want to invest in Rivian—we love their future as a company.“
Ford sent C/D this statement in response to this report: “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. Our relationship with Rivian is an important part of our journey, and Ford remains an investor and ally on our shared path to an electrified future.”
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