What to Expect from the Ford-Volkswagen Partnership

Since giant automakers Ford and Volkswagen announced that they have agreed on an extensive partnership earlier this year, industry experts and insiders have been waiting eagerly for new projects from both companies.

As far as the public knows, the two brands will jointly develop products without equity exchange or cross-ownership. This means that whatever product Ford develops from the said partnership will solely be under the company’s lineup. The same goes for Volkswagen.

But recently, the two carmakers shared more information about their collaboration, which includes electric and autonomous vehicles.

As far as electric vehicles go, Ford is planning to unveil its new electric vehicle based on Volkswagen’s MEB platform in 2023. The release of this EV will make Ford the first outside automaker to borrow Volkswagen’s dedicated EV architecture.

Ford’s new EV will be available in Europe, while a second MEB-based vehicle will possibly roll out in America afterwards. The American carmaker is setting its sights on delivering over 600,000 MEB-based vehicles in Europe between 2023 and 2029.

Also part of the collaboration is Volkswagen’s $2.6 billion investment in Argo AI, an autonomous technology platform company that Ford has previously invested in. Volkswagen was also announced to be buying Ford’s shares from Argo AI worth $500 million over a three-year period, while Ford is investing the remaining $600 million it has committed to Argo AI.

Both companies also announced that they will jointly work towards releasing midsize pickup trucks for global markets. The new truck is expected to be released in early 2022. Additionally, Ford will build a successor for the VW Amarok which will be part of the lineup of both brands. While it hasn’t been confirmed if the truck will be available in the United States, it was confirmed to arrive in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, and South America.