Amazon-Stellantis Deal Sends Rivian Shares Plunging

Wall Street learned this week that Amazon will be the first commercial customer of Stellantis’ Ram ProMaster battery-electric vehicle when it arrives in 2023.

Stellantis announced on January 5, 2022, a major partnership with Amazon to connect its vehicles, including using the US giant’s AWS servers and its Alexa voice command system.

Electric vehicle maker Rivian saw its shares plunge after the news. Shares of Rivian, which named Amazon its preferred cloud provider in December and has a contract to make 100,000 vehicles for

Amazon by 2030, fell 11% in Wednesday’s trading session.

Stellantis, the automaker formerly known as Fiat Chrysler, will use Amazon Web Services and other Amazon technology to develop new smart cockpit software.

“We always knew that our ambitious sustainability goals in our last mile operations would require multiple electric delivery van providers,” an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC in an email. “We continue to be excited about our relationship with Rivian, and this doesn’t change anything about our investment, collaboration, or order size and timing.”

Stellantis has already delivered tens of thousands of vehicles to Amazon since 2018 for last-mile delivery in North America and Europe. Stellantis said it developed the forthcoming Ram ProMaster with input from Amazon.

Amazon and Stellantis said they will work together to develop software for the “digital cockpit” infotainment systems of Stellantis vehicles that will start launching in 2024. Stellantis said it will use Amazon’s Alexa technology for voice controlled features, “navigation, vehicle maintenance, ecommerce marketplaces, and payment services.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.