(New York) Auto groups Ford and Rivian announced on Friday that they had given up on developing an electric car together, as planned in the initial partnership.
Ford will however retain its shares in the young company, which has just made a splash on the New York Stock Exchange.
The venerable builder had explained in 2019, when he had invested $ 500 million in Rivian, wanting to take advantage of the know-how of the start-up to develop a new electric vehicle.
Ford had even specified in early 2020 that it would be a vehicle from its luxury brand Lincoln, before abandoning this project a few months later.
But the manufacturer has since put the accelerator on its own electric vehicles, announcing in May to put on the table 30 billion dollars by 2025 for this category of vehicles. The Detroit group is betting heavily on the release of the emission-free version of its popular F150 pickup truck next spring.
At the same time, demand for vehicles made by Rivian, which began producing its own pickup trucks, dubbed R1T, in September, has increased.
Also the two companies “have together decided to focus on their own projects and deliveries”, indicates a common message sent to AFP.
Ford “remains an investor and an ally” of Rivian, he added.
The Detroit group in fact owns around 12% of Rivian’s shares.
It thus largely benefited from the entry last week on Wall Street of the young automobile company, whose action was displayed Friday at the close up 65% compared to its price of introduction.
Rivian was worth $ 114 billion at the close on Friday, compared to Ford’s $ 77 billion.