Ford sold shares in Rivian worth about $3 billion last year. It got out just in time. Rivan continues to be troubled, and its future is little better than cloudy. The press reported two key executives had left just a few weeks earlier. And it announced a second round of layoffs. The fact that Ford abandoned it was a final insult.
Rivian won’t report earnings until later this month. Last month it announced it had made 10,020 vehicles in the quarter and delivered 8,054. Management did not comment on the numbers, perhaps because they show how small Rivian is as it tries to get a foothold in the EV market.
Rivian lost $1.7 billion in the most recently reported quarter. This was on revenue of $536 million. Rivian had over $13 billion in the bank by the end of that period. Some investors worry that it is not enough to take it to profitability.
Another RIvian hurdle is that the EV industry is in the early stages of a price war. According to Investor.com, Wedbush’s Dan Ives said Rivian might need to take the same path to stay competitive. Investors have another worry, which in this case is margins.
Finally, looking at the EV industry shows how tough it is for a new company. Tesla will sell two million cars that year. Ford, GM, and most European and Asian manufacturers have spent tens of billions of dollars to convert most of their fleets to electric by the end of this decade.
With its stock down 65% and Ford gone, the optics get worse by the month.
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