Volkswagen Group has increased its stake in Rivian Automotive to 15.9%, becoming its largest shareholder ahead of Amazon, which had been the top investor in the EV maker ever since its 2021 IPO.
According to an SEC filing, Volkswagen’s US subsidiary has purchased 62.9 million new shares on April 30 at $15.90 per share, spending a total of approximately $1 billion in the process.
You may be aware that Volkswagen Group is not doing great at the moment, and in light of that, the investment may seem out of place, but the fact is the German carmaker was bound by the terms of its joint venture with Rivian to make the investment.
VW Group Coughs Up a Further $1 Billion to Buy Rivian Shares
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More specifically, the $1 billion share purchase is the latest step under the $5.8 billion investment commitment by 2027 signed by Rivian and VW Group in November 2024. According to the terms of the deal, VW’s investment is structured in $1 billion increments, each triggered by the Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies joint venture hitting specific milestones.
In this case, Electrek reports that the milestone was the completion of winter testing of the joint venture’s production-intent zonal architecture for first-generation software-defined vehicles, including the ID.Every1 (shown below). Since prototype vehicles from the Volkswagen, Audi and Scout Motors brands all passed the validation, VW had to purchase more Rivian stock.
Volkswagen Group
So far, VW Group has spent roughly $3.3 billion of its $5.8 billion commitment to Rivian. If it commits to the full $5.8 billion, VW’s stake in Rivian could go well above 20% by 2027. By that point, it will be interesting to see how VW and Rivian’s relationship will evolve seeing as they may have conflicting interests in the U.S. market—the Scout Motors brand is a direct competitor for Rivian.
VW’s recent share purchase has relegated Amazon to second place among the largest investors with around 11.8% of the expanded share count; while the tech giant hasn’t sold a single Rivian share, its stake has been diluted from roughly 20% at the IPO. Amazon currently owns 158.4 million Rivian shares.
Why the Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies Joint Venture Matters
Jason Meshnick
VW formed the joint venture with Rivian to gain access to the EV maker’s software to use in its global vehicles—much like its agreement with Xpeng is focused on the Chinese market. Following the failure of VW’s Cariad in-house division to develop reliable EV software, VW has had to postpone the launch of its next-generation Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) several times.
VW’s SSP unified EV architecture is expected to replace the existing MEB and PPE platforms. It will underpin a wide variety of models, from small cars like the future Golf EV to large SUVs, flagship VW and Audi sedans, and luxury sports cars from the Porsche brand.
The first VW vehicles featuring the Rivian-developed software and electrical architecture are expected to launch next year, starting with the €20,000 ID. Every1 electric city car.
