At this point in time, anyone who doesn't know that information is power is in trouble. The automotive sector is one of the most dynamic and competitive in the world . This implies a rapid pace of change, forcing brands to work at truly accelerated speeds. The difference between launching a model and conquering a segment can benefit or harm a manufacturer depending on the information the competition has.
There are many examples, but one of the most notorious was the development of the Renault Kangoo and the Peugeot Partner and Citroën Berlingo . To this day, it's not known for sure whether Renault stole information from PSA, but everything points to yes. Be that as it may, that's in the past, although now we have two companies embroiled in this issue again. We're referring to Tesla , which has sued Rivian for stealing confidential information.
Tesla is the world's first manufacturer of electric vehicles
According to several sources, including Automotive News, Tesla has just filed a lawsuit against Rivian . The basis for the lawsuit alleges that Rivian stole insider information by hiring current and former employees. The complaint, filed in a state court in San Jose, includes the following allegation…
“The misappropriation of Tesla’s competitive and useful confidential information for a new employer is obviously wrong and risky” […] “One would engage in such behavior only for one major benefit: use it to serve the competitive interests of a new employer”
Rivian , for its part, has denied all the accusations against it . This startup, founded in 2009 by RJ Scaringe, has a total of 2.400 employees spread across several locations in the United States. However, in recent months it has made some rather unusual hires . The data provided by Tesla is revealing, as it has reportedly integrated 178 former employees into its workforce.
Furthermore, 70 of these individuals reportedly met directly with Rivian to negotiate joining the company. It remains to be seen how this will play out, but the likelihood of information being passed from one company to another is high. Tesla's achievement has gone down in history, and all manufacturers want to know its secret, especially regarding its batteries. Will they be able to prove such theft?
Source – Automotive News
