Volkswagen and Ford have revealed details on how their new strategic alliance will work, including an agreement for the US company to build a new pickup for the Amarok pickup in return for the use of Volkswagen’s Modular Electric Drive (MEB).
The new partners remain competitors in the marketplace but have confirmed that a medium Amarok truck engineered and built by Ford, will be available in 2022.
The firms said they will 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.”
In a statement they added that a highly differentiated Ford electric vehicle for Europe by 2023 based on Volkswagen’s Modular Electric Drive (MEB) will expand “on Ford’s zero-emission capabilities.”
Ford Motor Company and Volkswagen AG said that signed agreements to develop their global alliance will meet rapidly evolving needs of their respective customers in Europe and other regions “by leveraging complementary strengths in midsize pickup trucks and commercial and electric vehicles.”
With both anticipating continued growth in global industry demand for commercial vehicles and for high-performing electric vehicles, the companies expect to produce up to a combined 8 million of the medium pickup truck and both commercial vans included in the commercial relationships.
“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.”
“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.”
Ford expects to deliver 600,000 electric vehicles using the MEB architecture – which is “designed to combine space and performance with electric drive” – starting from 2023.
“Commercial vehicles are fundamental to Ford today and an area where we will accelerate and grow, and working with Volkswagen on these platforms will provide both of us significant financial advantages in things like engineering, and plants and tooling,” added Jim Farley, Ford chief operating officer. “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.”
Thomas Sedran, chairman of the board of management of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, described the collaboration with Ford as a key building block of its GRIP 2025+ strategy: “This long-term cooperation with Ford will strengthen our very good position in area of light commercial vehicles, especially in our core European markets, and is proof that we are successfully implementing our plan step by step.”
Volkswagen and Ford said they plan to explore additional ways to cooperate on electric vehicles.
Volkswagen has closed its previously announced investment in the Ford-owned Argo AI, and now both will work with the Pittsburgh-based tech firm to form a “distinct, highly capable autonomous-vehicle businesses based on Argo AI’s self-driving technology”.
“Volkswagen and Ford independently choosing to invest in Argo AI illustrates the technical leadership and progress of Argo AI’s self-driving system, and how alliances can help enable development of breakthrough technologies that require substantial time and resources. Argo AI’s SDS is the first with commercial deployment plans for both Europe and the U.S. The global reach of Ford and Volkswagen will give Argo AI’s platform the largest geographic deployment potential of any autonomous driving technology to date. Reach and scale are important factors in developing an SDS that is robust and cost efficient.”
