A Volkswagen ID.4 electric vehicle at a Rivian charging station in San Francisco, California, US, on Tuesday, June 25, 2024.nets Rivian some much-needed cash. But it also gives Volkswagen a path to a future in the auto industry it has struggled to gain on its own.Rivian was losing somewhere around $1.5 billion per quarter — or about $30,000 to $43,000 on every truck it sold in the past five quarters.
"They are potentially one or two programs away from bankruptcy," said Joe McCabe, president and CEO of AutoForecast Solutions.at Rivian. In March, the automaker announced it would pause work on a $5 billion factory in Georgia where it had plans to produce its next generation of vehicles.The nick-of-time deal is expected to result in some kind of joint venture as early as this fall.
"I think that this deal ended up being really consequential for Rivian, for Volkswagen, but I think maybe even for the industry as a whole," said Alex Potter, senior analyst at Piper Sandler. But there are still challenges: Automotive history is littered with failed partnerships, Rivian and VW are still competitors, and the