will continue to ramp up in coming years, crossing boundaries most would not have envisioned even 10 years ago.”
With electric vehicles, manufacturers are under pressure to release zero-emission cars in markets such as China and Europe to meet tougher pollution limits. Ford already has its own platform which it will continue to use for the majority of its electric vehicles, but the relationship with Volkswagen will help Ford to develop smaller electric vehicles that are desired in the European market.
Ford hopes to sell 600,000 vehicles in Europe using VW’s technology over six years starting in 2023. VW, the world’s largest automaker measured by sales, already has invested $7 billion in its new platform, which it plans to use to build 15 million electric vehicles worldwide in the next decade.
“Ford has taken flack for years for not having a robust EV strategy and VW has had its own fair share of challenges, but this can help both companies reinvent themselves as innovative technology leaders,” said Jessica Caldwell, executive director industry insights for Edmunds.com. Edmunds provides content for The Associated Press.
As for Ford and Volkswagen, Hackett and VW CEO Herbert Diess left the door open to more collaboration between the companies, but they did not say whether there were specific additional partnerships in the works.
The Ford-VW alliance vaults Argo into one of the highest-valued autonomous vehicle development companies in the world.
The VW investment includes $1 billion in cash and the $1.6 billion value of VW’s 200-person autonomous intelligent driving company. Ford already has committed to putting $1 billion into Argo, which the companies now value at $7 billion.
The two companies announced plans in January to collaborate on developing commercial vans and medium-sized pickup trucks while exploring electric and autonomous vehicles together. They said Ford would develop larger vans and pickups while Volkswagen would develop a smaller van for crowded cities.
