Volkswagen overtakes Amazon as Rivian’s top shareholder

Volkswagen has emerged as the largest single shareholder in the American EV carmaker Rivian, which closely competes in the same market as rival Tesla.

This information is based on a filing by the company submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Caliber.Az reports citing German media.

The German carmaker now holds a 15.9% stake in Rivian, overtaking early backer Amazon, which owns roughly 13%. Amazon currently deploys Rivian-built electric vans in its delivery fleet.

Volkswagen’s expanding stake is tied to a joint venture with the US automaker focused on developing Rivian’s electrical architecture for future VW electric vehicles. The partnership could see Volkswagen invest up to $5.8 billion.

Rivian, meanwhile, is preparing to launch its lower-cost R2 SUV in the US in a bid to boost sales. So far, its lineup has lagged well behind market leader Tesla.

A key element of Rivian’s technology is its so-called zonal architecture, which organises vehicle functions by physical areas rather than individual systems. In conventional cars, separate control units handle functions like climate control or windows.

Rivian’s approach consolidates multiple functions into fewer computing units, allowing a single system to manage features such as acceleration and window controls on one side of the vehicle. This reduces wiring, lowers complexity and cuts costs.

Tesla and several Chinese automakers have already moved toward similar zonal system designs.

By Nazrin Sadigova