An auto industry expert says Rivian’s partnership with Ford is good news for both companies—and possibly for the Bloomington-Normal economy too.
Ford announced Wednesday it will invest $500 million in Rivian and use its skateboard platform to build a new, unnamed electric vehicle. Rivian plans to make those skateboards at its manufacturing plant in Normal, along with its own lineup of vehicles, starting next year with an SUV and pickup.
Rivian has promised to hire 1,000 full-time workers in Normal by 2024 to receive its full amount of local and state tax breaks. That would make it one of McLean County’s Top 10 largest employers.
Rivian spent $16 million to buy the plant, where Mitsubishi at one time cranked out 200,000 vehicles a year. Rivian has said it’s planning to make around 50,000 vehicles annually.
“Right now, I think for Normal, it’s really good news in that you have interest and you have Rivian setting up deals and arrangements that will really fill the capacity of the plant ultimately,” said Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst at IHS Markit. “It’ll take some time to get up to that 250,000 units per year. But they’re moving forward.”
Brinley doubts that the partnership with Ford—a company with its own manufacturing sites in our locations—would somehow lead to less Rivian production in Normal.
“Even if somewhere down the road Ford built a version of (the skateboard) at one of their plants, it would be in addition to whatever Rivian is doing. At this point, I don’t think that’s part of the conversation,” Brinley said. “The biggest question mark is really consumer demand for the products, and how quickly or slowly that ramps up.”
Brinley said there are other examples of partnerships like the one between Rivian and Ford. The new BMW Z4 and Toyota Supra sports cars are built on the same platform. One is a coupe, the other a convertible.
Partnerships between competitors are not unheard of, Brinley said, with some companies teaming up on engine programs. Some partnerships don’t last. Daimler and Toyota both invested in Tesla—the most established electric automaker—but later sold their stakes in the company.
“I’m not suggesting that I think it’s gonna fall apart. But you do have examples of partnerships that lived for a little while and served both companies for a shorter term,” she said. “We’ll see.”
Brinley said Rivian’s Ford partnership is not exclusive, meaning Rivian can still sell its skateboards to other automakers. Bloomberg reported last week that concerns about exclusivity may have scuttled a similar partnership with GM. Amazon also led a $700 million investment in Rivian.
“It’s not about whether Ford invested or GM invested,” Brinley said. “It’s really about Rivian executing on the business plan they’ve developed. I think they’ll see other partners down the road.”
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