$Rivian Automotive (RIVN.US)$ shares are volatile Wednesday following reports the company has no plans to produce vehicles with Volkswagen under their recently announced joint venture.

What Happened: Rivian and Volkswagen do not plan to partner on hardware or produce vehicles together as part of the planned joint venture announced last week, per Reuters.

The news follows reports from German media outlet Handelsblatt earlier in the day that the two companies were in talks to expand their software partnership to hardware and joint production. Sources familiar with the matter reportedly said the two companies were discussing potential production of the R2 platform at Volkswagen's plant in South Carolina, which is being built right now.

"There are no plans for production of vehicles with Volkswagen Group," a Rivian spokesperson reportedly told Reuters.

Rivian said there are no changes to its R2 production plans. The company still intends to build the R2 platform vehicles at its plant in Normal, Illinois, and will ramp up its Georgia plant from there.

Rivian and Volkswagen announced last Tuesday that the automakers would enter into a joint venture to create next-generation software-defined vehicle platforms to be used in both companies' future electric vehicles. Volkswagen will initially invest $1 billion and is expected to invest an additional $4 billion over time as part of the transaction.

RIVN Price Action: Rivian shares were down about 1.5% in extended trading Tuesday before bouncing back in early trading Wednesday. The stock was last down 0.11% at $14.87, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: courtesy of Rivian.