By Sean McLain
LONDON (Dow Jones) — Mercedes-Benz will build the planned plant for the construction of electric vans without the US competitor Rivian. Rivian announced that the joint venture negotiations with Mercedes had been broken off after a reassessment of growth opportunities. In the case of the DAX group, the development of electric van production in Poland is not affected by the Rivian cancellation.
The pause in this partnership reflects the process of evaluating the major capital projects in light of current and anticipated economic conditions, Rivian CFO Claire McDonough said in a statement. The startup believes its current business of selling vans and SUVs to retail customers and its delivery truck deal with Amazon are ideal for boosting profitability in the near future.
In September, Rivian and Mercedes-Benz signed a declaration of intent to build a joint plant in Eastern Europe. Large electric vans of both brands were to be manufactured there within a few years.
Mercedes-Benz Vans announced on Monday that a future cooperation with Rivian remains a possibility.
Rivian is losing heavily and trying to increase production at its only plant in Normal, Illinois. According to previous plans, construction of a second factory in Georgia is to begin. In the first three quarters of this year alone, the company, in which Amazon has a stake, posted a net loss of $5 billion.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 12, 2022 04:41 ET (09:41 GMT)
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