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With a new electric vehicle manufacturer entering the market on the regular, it’s getting harder and harder to keep track of them all. But one of the companies that has made a bigger splash than most in the EV game is Rivian Automotive, whose primary focus in the automobile market is producing slick electronic trucks, SUVs, and delivery vans.
As for that last category, you’ve surely seen countless electric Rivian vans in action, as they are regularly used by Amazon drivers making home deliveries. It may please some of you to know that those electronic vehicles were actually manufactured in the United States. Yes, Rivian is also an American company, having been founded by engineer RJ Scaringe in his home state of Florida. These days, Rivian calls the current EV mecca of Southern California home, having set up headquarters in Irvine in 2021.
Despite being headquartered in Southern California, Rivian does not manufacture its line of electric trucks and vans there. Rather, the company bought and completely refurbished an abandoned Mitsubishi automobile plant in Normal, Illinois, and has been building its cars there for the past few years. Though Rivian continues to grow by leaps and bounds, vehicles will likely be rolling off the Illinois production line for many more years to come. That’s particularly true as Rivian bosses recently opted to pause construction on their planned $5 billion manufacturing facility that’s been in the works outside Atlanta, Georgia.
Rivian is an independent American automobile manufacturer
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The Georgia manufacturing plant is still part of Rivian’s future, with RJ Scaringe recently noting that the massive facility will be vital in scaling up production on forthcoming Rivian vehicles. So there’s little question that much of the company’s auto production will move South when the facility finally opens. As it is, even when that move happens, Rivian fans can still take heart in the fact that the American automaker will continue to make its cars inside U.S. borders.
The flexibility to make such moves is largely the result of Rivian choosing to remain an independently owned company, meaning Scaringe and his executive team largely answer to their investors. Though Rivian is not owned by a larger corporate entity, the company still boasts a heavy hitter or two in its investor portfolio. Chief among them is Amazon, who’s been on Team Rivian since the early days, having directly contributed to developing its first delivery vans. Given the company’s early investment in Rivian, it should come as no surprise that Amazon continues to have a stake in the action, owning a reported 20% stake in the EV upstart.
At one time Ford Motor Company was also a key investor in Rivian, having initially approached the EV automaker to build an SUV for its Lincoln brand. Despite once owning a reported 13% stake in Rivian, Ford sold its shares in 2023. Despite Ford jumping ship, Rivian’s esteem in the electric vehicle market continues to grow, and the company still appears primed to become a major player on the EV scene moving forward.
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