(WWJ) In a global alliance, Ford and Volkswagen will work together to develop and build eight million small city vans, a larger cargo vans, a small pickup trucks and an electric vehicle.
The companies say their goal is leveraging complementary strengths in midsize pickup trucks and commercial and electric vehicles to innovate vehicle offerings, incorporating relevant new technologies, delivering better utility and offering more model choices.
"In light of the Covid 19 pandemic and its impacts on the global economy, more than ever it is vital to set up resilient alliances between strong companies," said Volkswagen Group CEO Dr. Herbert Diess. "This collaboration will efficiently drive down development costs, allowing broader global distribution of electric and commercial vehicles, and enhance the positions of both companies."
In a release, the companies said they "anticipate continued growth in global industry demand for commercial vehicles and for high-performing electric vehicles to add valuable scale to their individual product portfolios."
The alliance will:
- Produce a medium pickup truck engineered and built by Ford, for sale by Volkswagen as the Amarok starting in 2022 within the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles lineup
- Further 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 highly differentiated Ford electric vehicle for Europe by 2023 built on Volkswagen's Modular Electric Drive, or MEB, toolkit, expanding on Ford's zero-emission capabilities in the region.
"This alliance comes at a time of tremendous enthusiasm about the intersection of increasingly intelligent, connected vehicles in an ever-smarter world," said Ford CEO Jim Hackett. "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."
Separately, Ford will add battery electric versions of Transit and F-150 in the next 24 months for commercial customers who increasingly need zero emissions and the power of connectivity, data and artificial intelligence.
Over several years starting in 2023, Ford could deliver 600,000 electric vehicles atop the MEB architecture, which is designed to combine space and performance with electric drive. The vehicle, which will be designed and engineered by Ford in Cologne-Merkenich, will add another nameplate to its own all-electric Mustang Mach-E, which will be introduced in 2021.
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. Last week, Volkswagen closed its previously announced investment in Argo AI, the Pittsburgh-based company in which Ford already had ownership and development interests.
The Volkswagen/Ford alliance does not include cross-ownership between the companies, which will remain competitors in the marketplace.
