Photo: Volkswagen
For a while now, Ford and Volkswagen have been circling each other trying to find the best way to move forward as partners in several segments of the industry. The deal between the two finally became official this week, as the Blue Oval announced the signing of an agreement.
The tie up calls for the joint development of a number of projects in the field of commercial vehicles, electric cars, and even autonomous driving.
The biggest project, one we’ve known something about for a while now, is the creation of a Ford electric car based on Volkswagen’s Modular Electric Drive toolkit, the platform that underpins the ID.3 and will form the basis of a number of other VW EVs. This car should be ready to enter the market in 2023, and the targeted production run is 600,000 units per year.
Separately, Volkswagen’s Caddy would form the basis of a joint commercial vehicle meant to enter the city delivery van segment. The entire goal of the partnership in this field is estimated to produce 8 million vehicles during the lifecycles of the nameplates to be made.
Also, Ford agreed to make a brand new pickup truck the Germans will be using as well, one which would be marketed as the Amarok starting 2022.
In the field of autonomous driving, the two companies would be using Argo AI’s technology to develop self-driving technologies for a greater number of vehicles to be launched.
“This alliance comes at a time of tremendous enthusiasm about the intersection of increasingly intelligent, connected vehicles in an ever-smarter world,” said in a statement 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.”
The biggest project, one we’ve known something about for a while now, is the creation of a Ford electric car based on Volkswagen’s Modular Electric Drive toolkit, the platform that underpins the ID.3 and will form the basis of a number of other VW EVs. This car should be ready to enter the market in 2023, and the targeted production run is 600,000 units per year.
Separately, Volkswagen’s Caddy would form the basis of a joint commercial vehicle meant to enter the city delivery van segment. The entire goal of the partnership in this field is estimated to produce 8 million vehicles during the lifecycles of the nameplates to be made.
Also, Ford agreed to make a brand new pickup truck the Germans will be using as well, one which would be marketed as the Amarok starting 2022.
In the field of autonomous driving, the two companies would be using Argo AI’s technology to develop self-driving technologies for a greater number of vehicles to be launched.
“This alliance comes at a time of tremendous enthusiasm about the intersection of increasingly intelligent, connected vehicles in an ever-smarter world,” said in a statement 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.”
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