Ford and Rivian, a startup that builds a compact sports utility vehicle it plans to make in the United States, have ended development of a vehicle that the two automakers said would be the first mass-market electric vehicle to be sold in a mainstream vehicle segment.
Ford and Rivian said they ended development of the vehicle due to differences in strategy. A partnership such as this one has a tendency to feature an agreement to break up at a later date.
The two automakers have not disclosed how many people were involved in the effort, or how much money they may have spent on it.
Ford is focused on developing electric vehicles for an expected market, as it tries to remake itself as a maker of mass-market cars that people buy, rather than expensive and fuel-efficient vehicles they drive themselves.
Rivian builds an electric vehicle with a range of about 300 miles and a starting price of about $45,000.
The two companies announced in August that they planned to collaborate on developing a car to provide an electric-vehicle option for customers that was priced significantly less than the cheapest electric cars available today. The announcement indicated a collaboration that could span several years.
“This collaboration had the potential to expand the world’s EV market, but in the end it did not bring enough differentiation,” Ford said in a statement Tuesday.
Ford shares fell 2.2 percent to $11.59 in afternoon trading.