Ford Invests $500 Million in Electric-Vehicle Startup Rivian

This morning in Dearborn, Ford Motor Company confirmed plans to invest $500 million in Rivian, a Michigan-based electric vehicle startup. The investment places Ford among the largest investors in the privately-held company. Rivian has been in the spotlight recently, with interesting concept vehicles appearing at major auto shows and, more notably, an infusion of $700 million led by Amazon in February 2019.

In this agreement, Ford is also committing to work with Rivian to develop and launch an all-new Ford-branded EV build on the Rivian EV architecture.

Michelle Krebs, executive analyst from Autotrader, said: “Ford’s investment in Rivian is a smart one. Ford has committed to producing numerous electrified vehicles in the future, including pickup trucks, and Rivian has an intriguing concept to get the job done. Rivian leverages Ford’s leadership, expertise and massive volume in pickup trucks as well as its vast distribution network. The Amazon investment in the Rivian mix may well give Ford an in with the delivery services, possibly with electric cargo vans. And, of course, sport utility vehicles are another big opportunity the two could collaborate on.

“Bigger picture, the first step to proliferate electric vehicles, and ultimately autonomous vehicles, is through commercial fleets.

“This week has seen two major announcements that help confirm Detroit as the center of expertise for future mobility technologies: Waymo putting autonomous vehicle production in an old plant in the city and Ford investing in Rivian to make electric vehicles. On that front, it has been a wonderful few days for the Motor City.”

If you would like to speak to Michelle or any of the Cox Automotive analysts, contact a member of the Cox Automotive PR team.