Ford cuts Rivian stake to about 1% amid production woes at EV maker

(Reuters) – Ford Motor Co has cut its stake in struggling EV maker Rivian Automotive Inc to 1.15%, a week after the Detroit automaker reported a fall in profit and predicted a tough year ahead.

Shares of Rivian, which declined to comment on the matter, were down 2.5% before the bell.

Ford, which wrote down the value of its Rivian investment by $7.4 billion in 2022, has been paring down its stake amid production struggles at the Irvine, California-based company.

The U.S. car maker, which is set to pour billions into its electrification strategy, held a 11.4% stake in Rivian at the end of 2021.

The new stake, disclosed in a Wednesday filing, comes a week after Reuters reported Rivians plans to lay off 6% of its staff to cut costs amid falling cash reserves on the back of mounting economic worries.

Rivian shares also had a bleak 2022, losing about 82% of their value.

The company, which has been losing money on every vehicle it builds, narrowly missed its full-year production target of 25,000 units last year as it dealt with supply-chain disruptions.

(Reporting by Priyamvada C and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)