The eVito is one of Mercedes' electric vans in the market today.

Rivian, Mercedes Partnering on Electric Vans

Sept. 8, 2022

If consummated, the joint venture will build an electric-only plant in Central Europe.

Rivian Automotive Inc. and Mercedes-Benz Vans are partnership to build electric delivery vans in Central or Eastern Europe.

The companies signed a memorandum outlining a strategic plan—which still needs regulatory approvals and the signing of a binding agreement—envisions the manufacturing of two types of large van based on each company’s production platform but designed to be built on common assembly lines. Work would be done at a new electric-only facility piggybacking on an existing Mercedes‑Benz site in Europe and could lead to other projects down the road. The companies are not yet sharing numbers about the scale of their investments and possible production volumes.

Mercedes has Sprinter commercial van plants in Germany and in South Carolina.

Shares of Rivian (Ticker: RIVN) popped on the news Sept. 8 and were up 10% to about $36.50 in afternoon trading. They’re still down about 15% over the past six months, which has trimmed the company’s market capitalization to about $32 billion.

“We’re delighted to be partnering with Mercedes‑Benz on this project,” Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in a statement. “We believe that together we will produce truly remarkable electric vans which will not only benefit our customers, but the planet.”

For more context on this story, visit our sister brand FleetOwner.

About the Author

Geert De Lombaerde | Senior Editor

A native of Belgium, Geert De Lombaerde has been in business journalism since the mid-1990s and writes about public companies, markets and economic trends for Endeavor Business Media publications, focusing on IndustryWeek, FleetOwner, Oil & Gas Journal, T&D World and Healthcare Innovation. He also curates the twice-monthly Market Moves Strategy newsletter that showcases Endeavor stories on strategy, leadership and investment and contributes to other Market Moves newsletters.

With a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, he began his reporting career at the Business Courier in Cincinnati in 1997, initially covering retail and the courts before shifting to banking, insurance and investing. He later was managing editor and editor of the Nashville Business Journal before being named editor of the Nashville Post in early 2008. He led a team that helped grow the Post's online traffic more than fivefold before joining Endeavor in September 2021.