Rivian Automotive Inc. and Mercedes-Benz Vans are partnership to build electric delivery vans in Central or Eastern Europe.
The companies signed a memorandum outlining a strategic plan—which still needs regulatory approvals and the signing of a binding agreement—envisions the manufacturing of two types of large van based on each company’s production platform but designed to be built on common assembly lines. Work would be done at a new electric-only facility piggybacking on an existing Mercedes‑Benz site in Europe and could lead to other projects down the road. The companies are not yet sharing numbers about the scale of their investments and possible production volumes.
Mercedes has Sprinter commercial van plants in Germany and in South Carolina.
Shares of Rivian (Ticker: RIVN) popped on the news Sept. 8 and were up 10% to about $36.50 in afternoon trading. They’re still down about 15% over the past six months, which has trimmed the company’s market capitalization to about $32 billion.
“We’re delighted to be partnering with Mercedes‑Benz on this project,” Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in a statement. “We believe that together we will produce truly remarkable electric vans which will not only benefit our customers, but the planet.”
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