Ford and Volkswagen have given new details of their strategic alliance as a result of which both manufacturers will join forces in sectors as necessary as the electric car, autonomous driving, and commercial vehicles. This agreement dates back to 2018 and aims to improve the competitiveness of the two companies for the future.
According to a new document published by Ford itself, the American brand will be responsible for the development of a medium-sized pick-up (possibly the replacement for the Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok) and a 1-ton van (the replacement of the Transit/Tourneo Custom, which apparently will also be marketed as Volkswagen Transporter).
For its part, Volkswagen will develop a small van for the alliance (the new Caddy, whose version with Ford logos will replace the current Transit/Tourneo Courier and Transit/Tourneo Connect). Although no specific dates have been given, it is expected that most of these models will hit the market between 2021 and 2023.
These shared commercial vehicles could reach sales of around eight million units during their commercial life cycle. Allowing both Ford and Volkswagen to face rivals like FCA (FIAT-Chrysler) and PSA (Peugeot-Citroën, Opel). Their upcoming merger will make them the undisputed leaders of the commercial vehicle sector in Europe.
On the other hand, it has also been confirmed that Ford will manufacture an electric car for Europe from the MEB modular platform. Even though Volkswagen will provide the technical basis, everything seems to indicate that this vehicle will not be a simple remarking of another model from the German firm, but its creation from the MEB platform.
This association does not include cross-ownership, as the press release details that both manufacturers will continue to be competitors. In other words, the Volkswagen Amarok will keep being a rival to the Ford Ranger even though both vehicles will be identical and will be manufactured by the same company.