VW and Ford confirm closer union
Ford and Volkswagen AG have agreed to expand their global alliance by leveraging strengths in mid-size pick-up trucks and commercial and electric vehicles.
The alliance will produce a medium pick-up truck engineered and built by Ford, for sale within the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles line-up, strengthen the commercial vehicles businesses of both companies as early as 2021 with a city delivery van based on the latest Caddy model, developed and built by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and later a 1-ton cargo van created by Ford, and lead to a Ford electric vehicle for Europe by 2023 built on Volkswagen’s Modular Electric Drive, or MEB.
Over several years starting in 2023, Ford could deliver 600,000 electric vehicles using the MEB architecture.
Volkswagen Group CEO Dr Herbert Diess said: “In light of the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on the global economy, more than ever it is vital to set up resilient alliances between strong companies. This collaboration will efficiently drive down development costs, allowing broader global distribution of electric and commercial vehicles, and enhance the positions of both companies.”
Ford CEO Jim Hackett said: “This alliance comes at a time of tremendous enthusiasm about the intersection of increasingly intelligent, connected vehicles in an ever-smarter world. This creates a huge opportunity to innovate and solve many of the world’s transportation challenges and deliver extraordinary benefits to customers – even as companies need to be selective about how they use their cash.”
Additionally, the companies will both work with Argo AI to form distinct, highly capable autonomous-vehicle businesses based on Argo AI’s self-driving technology.
