Rivian‘s founder and CEO RJ Scaringe dismissed a direct question about whether Volkswagen Group should acquire the company outright, amid the software partnership with Europe’s largest carmaker.
The exchange took place during an on-stage interview at the Fast Company Grill during SXSW in Austin last week, where Scaringe laid out Rivian‘s evolution from a one-person startup in 2009 into a company whose vertically integrated EV maker.
In-House Push
Scaringe told the audience that the decision to build software and electronics in-house — rather than relying on traditional tier-one suppliers as virtually all automakers other than Tesla do — was questioned early on, including by members of his own board.
“In 2018, we were developing this, and we had a board meeting. And in the board meeting, one of our directors said, hey, like, do we really need to do all this in-house?” Scaringe recalled.
“Of course, me, an optimistic entrepreneur, I’m like, emphatically, of course we do. This is really, you know, this is core to the business.”
He said he told the board that if Rivian executed well enough, it might eventually be able to sell its technology to other manufacturers. “And everybody’s like, yeah, right, RJ, that’s not going to happen.”
In late 2024, Rivian signed what Scaringe called “the largest software licensing deal in the history of the auto industry” — the $5.8 billion joint venture with Volkswagen Group.
“And so now all future Volkswagens, Porsches, Audis, a bunch of brands that aren’t sold in the United States, Skoda, Seat, will use Rivian Electronics and Rivian Software as their core backbone,” Scaringe said.
“And so that’s the first of what we believe will be many software and electronics deals like that,” he added.
Buyout
It was at that point that Fast Company editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughn asked the question directly: “Why don’t they just buy you?”
Scaringe paused for five seconds before responding. “That’s not the outcome we were looking for,” he said. “Yeah.”
The host moved on. Scaringe continued without elaboration, pivoting to the revenue split of the business and the expected growth trajectory from R2.
Partnership Under Scrutiny
The brief exchange carries weight given the unresolved questions surrounding the joint venture, named RV Tech.
In January, German outlet Manager Magazine reported that the partnership is falling short of expectations, with VW Group CEO Oliver Blume assembling a task force to address mounting delays.
The report cited integration difficulties, a mismatch between Rivian‘s EV-only software architecture and Volkswagen’s broader portfolio of combustion-powered vehicles, and tensions between Rivian‘s standardised approach and demands from Audi and Porsche for brand-specific features.
Rivian‘s leadership has pushed back firmly earlier this month.
CFO Claire McDonough told investors at the J.P. Morgan 2026 Global Leveraged Finance Conference earlier this month that the relationship is “very strong.”
The CFO added that the joint venture adapted Rivian‘s second-generation architecture for multiple Volkswagen Group brand programs in 13 months — “multiple times faster than they would have ever been able to execute against working with their own supply base.”
Scaringe himself dismissed concerns on the Q4 earnings call on February 12, calling the partnership “very, very strong” and saying Rivian had delivered vehicles for winter testing across multiple VW Group brands.
What Remains at Stake
Of the $5.8 billion in total consideration pledged by Volkswagen, $2.5 billion remains outstanding.
Rivian expects to receive $2 billion this year: $1 billion in equity tied to the successful completion of winter testing, and a $1 billion non-recourse loan. The remaining $500 million is expected in 2027.
Rivian reported software and services revenue of $447 million in the fourth quarter, with approximately 60% — roughly $273 million — coming from the Volkswagen joint venture.
The Scalable Systems Platform developed through the partnership is expected to be deployed on up to 30 million vehicles across multiple brands.
But the structural tension remains.
Manager Magazine reported that because Volkswagen now expects to produce combustion-powered vehicles for longer than initially planned, and because Rivian‘s software is designed only for pure EVs, the German automaker has kept its in-house software unit Cariad running at a cost of billions of euros — effectively operating two parallel software stacks.
The company has also clarified that its autonomy platform — including the in-house RAP1 processor and LiDAR hardware — is not part of the Volkswagen partnership.
Licensing Ambitions
Scaringe told the SXSW audience that the Volkswagen deal was “the first of what we believe will be many software and electronics deals like that.”
On the Q4 earnings call, he was more explicit about the licensing opportunity.
“And if you’re another car company, you couldn’t look at Rivian and say — maybe before you could have, but now you couldn’t — ‘Well, I don’t think you could do this at this price point,'” he said. “Well, actually we cover every price point across the spectrum.”
The German automaker already holds a significant equity stake through the joint venture and has committed up to $5.8 billion in total consideration.
