Automotive News Daily Drive Oct. 12, 2025 | Bonus Episode: Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe says software critical to automaker survival
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Oct 12, 2025 
RJ Scaringe, CEO of Rivian, dives into the critical role of software-defined vehicle architectures for automakers’ futures. He highlights the limitations of legacy manufacturers and shares Rivian's innovative approach to centralize vehicle computing. The conversation also touches on Rivian's $5.8 billion licensing deal with Volkswagen as a strategy to compete with emerging rivals. Scaringe emphasizes the urgency for all OEMs to embrace these new technologies or risk losing market share by 2035.
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Cars Became A Mess Of Small ECUs
- Modern cars evolved into 100–150 independent ECUs over decades, creating a fragmented software landscape.
- RJ Scaringe calls that an "awful field of weeds" that makes coordination and updates extremely difficult.
Walk-Up Unlock Involves ~15 Companies
- RJ Scaringe explains the unlock sequence involves about 15 different companies coordinating multiple actions.
- He contrasts that with Rivian's ability to change the sequence and push an OTA the same afternoon because they control the whole stack.
Centralized Compute Enables Faster Features
- Rivian and Tesla designed centralized compute platforms where the OEM owns OS, middleware, and applications.
- Owning the full stack drastically lowers coordination costs and enables faster feature development.