Summary:
- Rivian is reportedly seeking to exit its exclusivity deal with Amazon, which the two companies are discussing.
- Amazon owns 18.1% of the EV manufacturer, and agreed in 2019 to buy 100,000 electric delivery vehicles (EDVs), but only 1,000 have been delivered so far.
- Amazon is currently recording lesser orders than when it made the deal and may be open to changing the terms.
Electric vehicle maker Rivian is allegedly trying to back out of its exclusivity deal with Amazon as it eyes new customers. According to CNBC, which quotes a Rivian spokesperson on Monday, the two companies are holding discussions on how to proceed.
Amazon owns about 18.1% of the mobility company, according to its Wikipedia page as of when this article was published. This likely means that majority of its production owe a lot to investments from the ecommerce giants.
In September 2019, Amazon’s Logistics arm agreed that it would work with Rivian to design, produce, and purchase 100,000 electric delivery vehicles (EDVs). As of November 2022, only 1,000 of the agreed upon vehicles have been delivered.
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The deal being exclusive means that until Rivian completes its Amazon commitment, it cannot sell the EDVs to other companies. Or at least, that is our understanding of the deal.
In a statement, Rivian claimed that it is still working closely with Amazon to come out on top amid the changing economic situation. However, it seems that Amazon is trying to cut down the number of EDVs it wants this year as sources claim that the ecommerce company is requesting for only 10,000 units, which is lesser than its initial request.
Although, Amazon has denied making any changes to its order saying that it was 10,000 vehicles that it requested this year. It also hinted that it may welcome a change in the exclusivity clause when it said:
“While nothing has changed with our agreement with Rivian, we’ve always said that we want others to benefit from their technology in the long run because having more electric delivery vehicles on the road is good for our communities and our planet.”
It is important to note that when Amazon was making the deal for a 100,000 vehicles from Rivian, it was seeing huge order placements due to the pandemic. Now that the restrictions are gone, the company is recording lower numbers and its stock price has been on a downward trend over the last 12 months.
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