Arrival

Founded in 2015 by Russian businessman Denis Sverdlov, the former Deputy Minister of Mass Communications to the Kremlin who previously served as the General Director of the Yota Group, a Russian mobile service provider, Arrival is a global company with headquarters in Kensington, London and Charlotte, North Carolina. It also has an R&D facility in Banbury and further offices in North America, Germany, Israel, Russia and the Netherlands. Sverdlov remains the company's majority-owner holding 76% of shares following the company's public listing on the NASDAQ stock exchange.In August 2017, the Royal Mail announced an agreement with Arrival to trial nine vehicles in the ranges of 3.5, 6 and 7 tonnes GVW.In May 2019, United Parcel Service announced a deal with Arrival to trial 35 vehicles across London and Paris as part of a wider strategy to electrify their massive fleet of delivery vehicles.BlackBerry announced in October 2019 that they would be powering Arrival's Generation 2.0 intelligent electric vehicles. As part of the agreement, BlackBerry will license its BlackBerry QNX technology to Arrival, including its QNX SDP 7.0 real-time operating system, which will serve as the secure foundation for ADAS features within the company's vehicle platform.Mike Ableson, former Vice President of EV Infrastructure and Global Strategy at General Motors, joined Arrival in October 2019 as CEO of Automotive and North America.In December 2019, Cubic Telecom, a connectivity management software provider, partnered with Arrival to deliver intelligent connectivity software to their electric vehicle fleets.Arrival announced in January 2020 that Hyundai Motor Group and Kia Motors had invested €100 million in the company marking the start of a strategic partnership between the automakers to accelerate the adoption of commercial electric vehicles globally. Following the investment, Arrival revealed they have achieved "unicorn" status, valuing the start-up at €3 billion. Arrival plans to use 10,000 m2 "microfactories" to build their electric vehicles having developed a "skateboard" platform containing a drive train and batteries.On 29 January 2020, Arrival announced that UPS had invested in the company and placed an order for 10,000 Generation 2 electric vehicles to be rolled out across the UK, Europe and North America before 2024 as part of their transition towards a zero-emissions fleet. The deal was reported to be worth $400m along with an equity stake in the company of an undisclosed size. The purpose-built electric vehicles have been co-developed by Arrival and UPS in order to meet UPS's exact specifications, including the latest advanced control and safety features.On 17 June 2020, Arrival revealed a zero-emission bus. The bus will be priced the same as an equivalent diesel bus, according to the company. Lower running costs will make it even cheaper for operators in the long term.On 25 March 2021, the company went public on NASDAQ under ARVL symbol.Arrival has established operations in the United States, with the Charlotte, North Carolina metro area serving as the company's U.S base of operations. Arrival's first U.S. office is in the South End neighborhood. The company's first U.S. microfactory in the nearby South Carolina suburb of Rock Hill will produce buses. The company's investing $41.2M for its second microfactory in West Charlotte, where it plans to produce UPS delivery vans starting Q3 of 2022 with a workforce of 250.In November 2021, it was reported that Arrival had non-binding orders or letters of intent for 64,000 vehicles.In October 2022, the company announced job cuts amid relocation of its van production from Bicester to the US. It also announced restructuring of its business to focus on the US market by capitalising on the incentives from Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.