The recent $5 billion deal between Volkswagen (OTC:VWAGY) and U.S. electric vehicle start-up Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) has reportedly stirred up discontent among employees at the German automaker's software division Cariad.
What Happened: Cariad CEO Peter Bosch was not part of the discussions that led to the deal, Financial Times (FT) reported. The joint venture between Volkswagen and Rivian, announced in June, is aimed at developing software for both companies' future cars.
A senior Cariad engineer told FT that they learned about the deal with Rivian from the news and that it has created uncertainty and frustration among the division's 6000 employees. Another even said that the current chaos at Cariad hints at "more or less the end" of the company.
Cariad was founded in 2020 and since then, Volkswagen has invested about $12 billion into building in-house vehicle software. However, it has been plagued by budget overruns and delays which bogged down the rollout of key models including Porsche's first electric SUV, the report noted.
However, certain people who worked at Cariad told FT that the company's issues were also caused by the management's changing priorities, coupled with the differences in priorities between the engineering teams of Audi and Volkswagen who came together to form Cariad.
Cariad, Volkswagen, and Rivian did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment.
Why It Matters: Volkswagen is currently faced with falling demand. Last week, it was reported that the company is considering shutting factories in Germany for the first time in its 87-year history.
The company's workers subsequently raised questions about the company's decision to invest in an American startup for software instead of fixing failures at Cariad.
Rivian, meanwhile, is banking on the JV with Volkswagen to ramp up production of its R2 SUV which will be launched in the first half of 2026.
"Assuming all criteria are met, we expect that the full $5 billion is intended to flow to the benefit of Rivian," company CFO Claire McDonough said last month at the company's second-quarter earnings call. "In addition to the $5 billion of capital to Rivian, we anticipate incremental benefits through cost savings on materials, operating expense efficiencies, and future revenue opportunities associated with the joint venture."
Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.
Read More:
- SpaceX Set To Launch All-Civilian Polaris Dawn Mission On September 10 After Multiple Delays
This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Image Via Shutterstock
據報道,大衆汽車(場外交易代碼:VWAGY)與美國電動汽車初創公司Rivian Automotive(納斯達克股票代碼:RIVN)最近達成的50億美元交易激起了這家德國汽車製造商軟件部門Cariad員工的不滿。
發生了什麼:據《金融時報》(FT)報道,Cariad首席執行官彼得·博世沒有參與導致該交易的討論。大衆汽車和Rivian於6月宣佈成立合資企業,旨在爲兩家公司的未來汽車開發軟件。
Cariad的一位高級工程師告訴英國《金融時報》,他們從新聞中得知了與Rivian的交易,這給該部門的6000名員工帶來了不確定性和挫敗感。另一位甚至表示,Cariad目前的混亂局面暗示着該公司 「或多或少已經走到了盡頭」。
Cariad成立於2020年,此後,大衆汽車已投資約120億美元開發內部汽車軟件。但是,報告指出,它一直受到預算超支和延誤的困擾,這阻礙了包括保時捷首款電動SUV在內的關鍵車型的推出。
但是,某些在Cariad工作的人士告訴英國《金融時報》,該公司的問題也是由於管理層優先事項的變化,以及共同組建Cariad的奧迪和大衆汽車工程團隊之間的優先事項差異造成的。
Cariad、大衆汽車和裏維安沒有立即回應本辛加的置評請求。
爲何重要:大衆汽車目前面臨着需求下降的問題。上週,有報道稱,該公司正在考慮在其87年曆史上首次關閉德國的工廠。
該公司的員工隨後對該公司決定投資一家美國初創公司開發軟件而不是修復Cariad的故障提出了質疑。
與此同時,Rivian指望與大衆汽車的合資企業提高其R2 SUV的產量,該SUV將於2026年上半年推出。
該公司首席財務官克萊爾·麥克唐納上個月在公司第二季度業績電話會議上表示:「假設所有標準都得到滿足,我們預計全部50億美元將流向Rivian。」「除了向Rivian提供的50億美元資本外,我們預計還將通過節省材料成本、提高運營費用效率以及與合資企業相關的未來收入機會獲得增量收益。」
點擊此鏈接,查看更多Benzinga的《未來出行》報道。
閱讀更多:
- 經過多次延遲,SpaceX定於9月10日啓動全民用北極星黎明任務
該內容部分是在Benzinga Neuro的幫助下製作的,並由Benzinga編輯審查和出版。
圖片來自 Shutterstock