By Abhirup Roy
PALO ALTO, California (Reuters) – A joint venture between U.S. electric pickup and SUV maker Rivian and Volkswagen is in talks with other automakers about supplying their software and electrical architecture, a senior Rivian executive said on Thursday.
The German automaker agreed in November to invest $5.8 billion in the joint venture, which will integrate Rivian's advanced electrical infrastructure and software technology for the two companies' future electric vehicles.
While a joint venture will give Rivian greater leverage to negotiate better supplier deals and reduce costs, seen as critical amid slowing demand for electric vehicles, Volkswagen and potentially other traditional carmakers will have quick and easy access to technology and software they have struggled to build for. years.
“I would say a lot of other OEMs are knocking on our door,” Rivian Chief Software Officer Wassym Bensaid said in an interview, referring to Original Equipment Manufacturers, a phrase used to describe vehicle manufacturers.
Bensaid, who is also co-CEO of the joint venture, declined to provide the names of the interested automakers and details of what stage the negotiations were at.
The Rivian architecture requires fewer electronic control units and much less wiring, reducing vehicle weight and simplifying manufacturing. The technology is central to building cars with software that could be updated over the air like a smartphone – what the industry calls “software-defined vehicles”, an area where established carmakers still running behind.
“There is demand,” said Bensaid, adding that the priority until 2027 was to introduce the R2, Rivian's less expensive SUV and to integrate the technology in other Volkswagen brands. “Obviously other OEMs are talking to us and we're trying to figure out how to support that in the future.”
“Any other OEM that wants to make a leap from a technology perspective, the joint venture today becomes one of the key partners they can work with,” he said.
The venture is likely to become the platform of choice in the Western world apart from Tesla, Canaccord Genuity analysts said in a note. The joint venture also helps alleviate “a significant portion of the capital concern” for Rivian, the analysts said.
(Reporting by Abhirup Roy in Palo Alto, California, and Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Henderson and Jamie Freed)