Rivian overtakes Daimler, GM, Ford to become fifth most valuable carmaker

US electric vehicle start-up Rivian has powered into a top-five position of the world’s most valuable car companies.

The carmaker debuted on the Nasdaq stock exchange this week with one of the largest initial public offerings on record – its shares surging in price as investors bought in frenzied numbers.

Rivian is now valued at US$120.5 billion (AU$165.2bn) by market capitalisation, ranking the company higher than Daimler (Mercedes-Benz), General Motors, Ford, Great Wall Motors, BMW, and Hyundai.

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Ahead of Rivian on the list is BYD, Volkswagen Group, Toyota, and Tesla.

Despite the electric carmaker only just starting to deliver vehicles to its customers, Rivian is valued more than Hyundai, Subaru, Mazda, and Kia combined.

Over the past day, Rivian’s market cap has surged from US$100 billion (AU$136bn) to more than US$120 billion. A similar move could see it overtake Volkswagen Group – which owns brands including Audi, Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini, Skoda, Seat, Ducati, and Volkswagen.