San Francisco, Feb 10 (IANS): US-based Ford Motor Company has sold a majority of electric vehicle startup Rivian shares, according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The shares of the EV maker have been dropping steadily since May 2022, and are now at 1.15 per cent, or 10.5 million shares, reports TechCrunch.

The report also said that the sell comes just a week after Ford disclosed a $7.3 billion write-down on its Rivian investment last year.

Rivian's stock has fallen almost 70 per cent since February 2022.

Moreover, Ford reported a $5.4 billion "mark-to-market loss" on its Rivian investment in April last year, also the automaker sold 15 million shares in two separate transactions the following month, reducing its stake in the EV maker to less than 10 per cent, according to the report.

Ford's partnership with Rivian began in 2019 with a $500 million investment in the promising EV startup.

Other companies, like Amazon, also reported a $2.3 billion valuation loss in its Rivian stock.

Earlier this month, Rivian announced to lay off 6 per cent of its workforce.

As reported by Reuters, Rivian's chief executive RJ Scaringe announced the lay-offs in an email to employees, stating that the firm is focusing resources on increasing vehicle manufacturing and achieving profitability.