Ford and the Volkswagen Group have announced details of their partnership. The American and German giants will collaborate first on pickup trucks and commercial vehicles for the global market, and plan to develop electric vehicles, autonomous cars and mobility solutions together.
• Ford to cut thousands of jobs
The first product of the alliance – a Ford-built medium-sized pickup truck – is expected to go on sale in 2022. After the medium-sized pickup, Ford expects to design and build larger vehicles for the two companies to sell, while VW will engineer and manufacture a smaller, city-sized van.
VW and Ford sold 1.2 million vans and other light commercial vehicles in 2018, and the pickup truck sector has seen significant growth over the last five years. By sharing development costs, leveraging manufacturing capabilities and optimising cost efficiencies, Ford and VW expect improve their financial results by 023, becoming the commercial sector’s “highest-volume collaboration” in the process.
As well as commercial vehicles, Ford and the Volkswagen Group have signed a memorandum of understanding (a nonbinding precursor to a contract) to “investigate collaboration” related to autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles and mobility services. Leaving the door open for further collaborations, both Ford and VW confirmed they would be “considering additional vehicle programs in the future”.
Ford’s president and CEO, Jim Hackett, said the alliance with VW would “drive significant efficiencies and help both companies improve their fitness”, while VW Group’s CEO, Dr. Herbert Diess, said the two companies would harness “complementary market positions”. Diess added the partnership would “be a cornerstone for our drive to improve competitiveness”. The partnership will be governed by a joint committee, led by Hackett and Diess.
The two companies will be hoping to achieve more success in the mobility market than was seen by the ride-hailing bus service, Chariot, which was purchased by Ford in 2016, launched in the UK in 2017, and closed down in early 2018.
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