Electric-vehicle maker Rivian Automotive Inc. and its largest shareholder Amazon.com Inc. are in talks to end the exclusivity part of their electric van deal, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday citing people familiar with the matter.
Online retailer Amazon had placed an order for 100,000 electric delivery vans from the Irvine, Calif.-based EV maker in 2019, as part of the company’s plans to cut carbon emissions. It has taken deliveries and inducted the EDVs into its fleet, with over 10 million packages delivered using the vans.
Amazon informed the EV maker it wanted to buy about 10,000 vans this year, which was at the low end of a range it previously provided Rivian, the report added.
Rivian said it continues to work closely with Amazon. Shares of the EV maker fell around 3 percent in trading before the bell.
“While nothing has changed with our agreement with Rivian, we have always said we want others to benefit from their technology in the long run,” said a spokesperson from Amazon.
A Rivian spokeswoman told the Journal: “Our relationship with Amazon has always been a positive one. We continue to work closely together and are navigating a changing economic climate, similar to many companies.”
Rivian makes and delivers the R1T pickup and R1S SUV apart from the electric delivery van for Amazon.
