Rivian launches small EV startup

Rivian Automotive in Irvine is spinning out a business that will develop small electric vehicles designed for short trips.

The new “micromobility” company, known as Also, is launching with $105 million in funding from Rivian and venture capital firm Eclipse. Rivian, which makes consumer EV trucks and SUVs, will have a minority stake in Also.

Chris Yu, a Rivian executive who will lead the new company as president, said in an interview that current options are limited for customers looking for plug-in vehicles smaller than a standard car. “There is a lack of personalized experience you get, like with a Rivian, for small EVs.”

While Also didn’t specify the exact vehicles it will roll out, Yu said the technology platform will be applicable to e-bikes as well as three- and four-wheel products including neighborhood EVs and micro cars. The company plans to announce a flagship consumer product this fall, before starting deliveries in the US in 2026 and expanding into Europe later that year.

The company aims to later launch products tailored for both consumer and commercial use in Asia and South America.

Also will have about 70 employees to start, primarily working out of a Palo Alto office.

Nissan CEO AIMS FOR faster turnaround

The chief-executive-to-be at money-losing Japanese automaker Nissan is determined to speed up decision-making to come up with models that say Nissan — and really sell.

Ivan Espinosa, 46, chief planning officer and a Mexican with two decades of experience at Nissan Motor Corp., told reporters in embargoed comments for Wednesday that the company’s corporate culture is “lacking empathy” and has to change.

“We need to work together as one single team,” he said at the Nissan Technical Center in Atsugi city on the outskirts of Tokyo. “We need to work together hand in hand.”

Nissan recently appointed Espinosa to take its helm, effective April 1, replacing Makoto Uchida.

Espinosa has his work cut out for him as the maker of the Sentra sedan and Infiniti luxury cars faces yet another crisis, which began decades ago when Carlos Ghosn was sent in by French alliance partner Renault to save it from the brink of bankruptcy.

To showcase its turnaround plans, Nissan showed an array of models rolling out in the next two years for the U.S., Europe, Japan and other markets, some of them as mockup models.

Dollar Tree offloads Family Dollar for $1B

Dollar Tree’s decade-long effort to fold the Family Dollar chain into its business is ending after agreeing to sell the bargain store chain to a pair of private equity firms for $1 billion.

Dollar Tree Inc. bought Family Dollar with its over 7,000 stores ten years ago for more than $8 billion.

Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said that Dollar Tree struggled with supply chain issues, poor store locations and other operational difficulties ever since making the acquisition.

“Basically, Dollar Tree bit off far more than it could chew,” he said.

Bargain chains like Dollar Tree, which have raised some of their prices in recent years, are finding that they have little room to maneuver. Americans have tightened their spending as consumer confidence in the economy slides.

Family Dollar, which moved its headquarters from North Carolina to Chesapeake, Virginia, after the sale to Dollar Tree, will maintain its headquarters in Virginia.

Compiled from Bloomberg and Associated Press reports.