Volkswagen is investing $5 billion in Rivian as part of a new joint venture that will give the German auto giant access to the buzzy California EV company’s software and EV platform. The new venture was announced in a post from Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, who noted the investment will help the company bring its next generation R2 electric vehicle to market starting in 2026. The R2 is expected to be a more affordable $45,000 model than its current luxury-priced EVs, the R1T and R1S.
Like other EV-only companies, Rivian has been struggling through a period of cooling demand around electric vehicles. The company’s sales are up, but its losses are also increasing. It has $7.9 billion of cash and cash equivalents on hand, but it has acknowledged that cuts could be necessary if it’s ever going to achieve stability. Rivian has already gone through several rounds of layoffs in its short history. Meanwhile, VW has been going through its own struggles around EVs.