Ford and VW unveil alliance

Ford and Volkswagen have announced a “global alliance” that results in the two carmakers collaborating on a range of projects from commercial to electric vehicles all in a bid to cut costs. 

Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess and his Ford counterpart Jim Hackett confirmed that the companies intend to develop commercial vans and medium-sized pickups for global markets beginning as early as 2022. 

The companies estimate the commercial van and pickup cooperation will yield improved annual pre-tax operating results, starting in 2023.

In addition, Volkswagen and Ford have signed a memorandum of understanding to investigate collaboration on autonomous vehicles, mobility services and electric vehicles and have started to explore opportunities.

Both companies also said they were open to considering additional vehicle programs in the future. The teams will continue working through details in the coming months.

“Over time, this alliance will help both companies create value and meet the needs of our customers and society,” said Hackett.

Diess added: “Volkswagen and Ford will harness our collective resources, innovation capabilities and complementary market positions to even better serve millions of customers around the world. At the same time, the alliance will be a cornerstone for our drive to improve competitiveness.” 

Commercial van and pickup collaboration

Through the alliance, Ford will engineer and build medium-sized pickups for both companies which are expected to go to market as early as 2022.

For both parties, Ford intends to engineer and build larger commercial vans for European customers, and Volkswagen intends to develop and build a city van.

Demand for both medium pickups and commercial vans is expected to grow globally in the next five years.

The companies’ collective light commercial vehicle volumes from 2018 totalled approximately 1.2 million units globally, which could represent the industry’s highest-volume collaboration as production scales.