Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded to requires his EV maker to purchase competing startup Rivian, in what could be a monumental merger between two industry-leading firms.
Musk was in Philadelphia on Friday evening 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 one in every 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 automobile 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 stable shopper base, robust merchandise, and an progressive CEO working 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 troublesome {industry}. There’s solely two U.S. automobile firms that haven’t gone bankrupt, and that’s Ford and Tesla. Rivian’s going to have a tough time. It’s insanely troublesome to compete within the automobile {industry}. If it weren’t for 2 expertise discontinuities, one being electrification and the opposite being autonomy, I feel 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 era of merchandise with a brand new platform that may convey 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 troublesome {industry}. There’s solely two U.S. automobile firms 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 countless 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 scenario the place it may construct autos and broaden merchandise, it has but to make a revenue on the automobiles it builds for patrons, one thing that took Tesla a number of years to attain.
Competitors is nice for the market, as effectively, and Rivian is at the moment constructing a automobile platform that caters to a unique shopper base than Tesla. Rivian’s autos, whereas all-electric like Tesla’s, are extra geared towards the outside and tenting.
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