SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Rivian on Tuesday denied a media report saying the U.S. electric vehicle company was in early talks with Volkswagen to expand their partnership beyond the recently announced software joint venture.
Shares of Rivian fell 1.5% in extended trading.
German newspaper Handelsblatt reported, citing sources familiar with the matter, that a wider partnership could include production of Rivian’s smaller, cheaper R2 SUV at VW’s South Carolina plant. The plant is currently under construction and VW plans to produce Scout-branded SUVs and pickups there starting in 2026.
Rivian said it has not changed its plans to start production of the R2 at its manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois, followed by production at a planned factory in Georgia.
“There are no plans to produce vehicles with the Volkswagen Group,” a Rivian spokesperson told Reuters in an email.
Volkswagen declined to comment, saying its focus was clearly on the proposed joint venture with Rivian. U.S. brand Scout did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Abhirup Roy in San Francisco and Victoria Waldersee in Berlin. Additional reporting by Noel Randewich in Oakland, California. Editing by Matthew Lewis)
