VW, Ford partner on AVs, EVs, ADAS

  • June 25, 2020
  • imc

VW CEO Dr. Herbert Diess and Ford President and CEO Jim Hackett

Volkswagen and Ford have agreed to work together on developing electric vehicles and autonomous driving. The agreement also covers developing new pickup trucks and commercial vehicles. Ford is to build a new electric vehicle for Europe based on Volkswagen’s Modular Electric Drive toolkit. Both companies will also work with Argo AI to develop autonomous vehicles for production.

The two companies collaboration on a range of commercial vehicles will include a city van to be built by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. Later, a 1-ton cargo van will be engineered by Ford, and a Volkswagen medium pickup built on the Ford Ranger platform.

The relationship does not involve cross-ownership between the two companies.  The collaboration is expected to create significant efficiencies for both companies.

During the lifecycles of the products, 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.

Volkswagen and Ford plan to explore additional ways to cooperate on electric vehicles.

Over several years starting in 2023, Ford could deliver 600,000 electric vehicles built on Volkswagen’s Modular Electric Drive architecture. The vehicle will be designed and engineered by Ford in Cologne-Merkenich.

“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.”

“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,” said 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.”

“The collaboration with Ford is a key building block of our GRIP 2025+ strategy and part of the current transformation of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles,” said Thomas Sedran, chairman of the board of management of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. “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.”