Ford Motor Company and Volkswagen AG on Wednesday announced that are collaborating in the production of midsize pickup trucks and commercial and electric vehicles.
According to the companies, 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.
The companies say that they will both work with Argo AI to form what they called “distinct, highly capable autonomous-vehicle businesses,” based on Argo AI’s self-driving technology. Last week, Volkswagen closed its previously announced investment in Argo AI, the Pittsburgh-based company in which Ford already had ownership and development interests.
The Volkswagen/Ford alliance does not include cross-ownership between the companies, which will remain competitors in the marketplace.