Rivian about to surpass GM as 2nd most valuable US carmaker

This Nov. 14, 2018, file photo shows a Rivian R1T at Rivian headquarters in Plymouth, Mich. Shares in Rivian Automotive are set to trade publicly on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, and the world should get a better idea of just how hot investors are for the electric vehicle market. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Rivian Automotive, a company that went public a day ago and hopes to produce 1,000 electric vehicles by the end of the year, will surpass General Motors to become the nation's second most valuable automaker if an overnight surge in the price of its shares hold.

The California company's market valuation exceeded Ford's in its first day of trading Wednesday and with shares up 6% before the opening bell Thursday, that valuation hit $90 billion to surpass GM, a company that sold more than 2.5 million vehicles last year.

Rivian has delivered about 150 of its electric pickup trucks, mostly to employees. The company rolled out its first vehicle, the R1T electric truck, in September and will launch its electric SUV, the R1S, in December.

Ford is one of Rivian’s high-profile backers, having invested a half-billion dollars into the company in 2019. The other is Amazon, which held a 20% stake in Rivian ahead of the initial public offering.

Rather than focusing on the number of cars its sold, investors are anticipating potential for Rivian with the appetite growing for electric vehicles.

Tesla has largely dominated the electric vehicle market for years, amassing a market value of more than $1 trillion along the way. So far this year, Tesla has sold around 627,300 vehicles.

Rivian's stock is up more than 6% in premarket trading.