Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded to requires his EV maker to purchase competing startup Rivian, in what can be a monumental merger between two industry-leading corporations.
Musk was in Philadelphia on Friday night time for an occasion forward of the U.S. presidential election as he was trying to assist former U.S. President Donald Trump swing Pennsylvania. The cease is certainly one of a number of Musk has deliberate within the Keystone State.
The occasion, whereas extra targeted on politics, was additionally met with questions on Tesla, Musk’s electrical car firm.
One attendee who was there to ask Musk a query pushed the CEO on why Tesla had not sought to purchase Rivian, a competing automaker that has a strong client base, sturdy merchandise, and an modern CEO operating the corporate however a shaky monetary platform.
Musk mentioned:
“I want them the most effective. I hope they do effectively. The automobile {industry} is a really tough {industry}. There’s solely two U.S. automobile corporations that haven’t gone bankrupt, and that’s Ford and Tesla. Rivian’s going to have a tough time. It’s insanely tough to compete within the automobile {industry}. If it weren’t for 2 know-how discontinuities, one being electrification and the opposite being autonomy, I believe Tesla couldn’t succeed with out fixing each.”
Rivian has managed to make it a number of years and is about to roll out its subsequent technology of merchandise with a brand new platform that can deliver prices down for it and shoppers, in addition to streamline the manufacturing course of.
Elon Musk was requested tonight why @Tesla hasn’t purchased Rivian:
“I want them the most effective. I hope they do effectively. The automobile {industry} is a really tough {industry}. There’s solely two U.S. automobile corporations that haven’t gone bankrupt and that’s Ford and Tesla. Rivian’s going to have a tough time.… pic.twitter.com/yzgSlKkpTs
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) October 19, 2024
Nonetheless, it’s feeling the pains of beginning an EV firm with out a comparatively limitless quantity of economic backing, like Lucid with the Saudi PIF.
It had traders like Ford and Amazon, however these partnerships ended or grew to become non-exclusive.
Though it stays in a state of affairs the place it may possibly construct automobiles and develop merchandise, it has but to make a revenue on the vehicles it builds for patrons, one thing that took Tesla a number of years to realize.
Competitors is sweet for the market, as effectively, and Rivian is at the moment constructing a car platform that caters to a unique client base than Tesla. Rivian’s automobiles, whereas all-electric like Tesla’s, are extra geared towards the outside and tenting.
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