FORD AND VOLKSWAGEN TEAMING UP. New car news.

Ford and Volkswagen today signed agreements that will expand their global alliance.

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.

“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. This collaboration will efficiently drive down development costs, allowing broader global distribution of electric and commercial vehicles, and enhance the positions of both companies.”
Said Volkswagen Group CEO Dr. Herbert Diess

“This alliance comes at a time of tremendous enthusiasm about the intersection of increasingly intelligent, connected vehicles in an ever-smarter world. 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.”
Said Ford CEO Jim Hackett. “

This isn’t the first time that Ford and VW “kind of teamed up”. You might remember the original Ford Galaxy and the VW Sharan people carrier? However, this agreement will be a lot larger. Both parties stress that this is alliance does not include cross-ownership between the companies and that THEY remain competitors…..It’s more about sharing costs etc.