Ford Motor Company and Volkswagen AG concluded an alliance last year and formalized the agreement a few days ago. Let us see what their union will entail for us customers.
According to the agreement, Ford will be given access to the latest vehicle architecture used by Volkswagen. The two brands will combine efforts in designing commercial vans and will enlist the help of Argo AI, a U.S.-based startup firm specializing in intelligent self-driving solutions.
In 2023, Ford will unveil a brand-new vehicle based on the Volkswagen MEB chassis for electric cars. VW will have produced 15 million units of MEB-based cars by mid-2028, complemented by 600 thousand Ford-branded ones.
Ford also leads the project dedicated to releasing the next-gen Ford Ranger (2021) and Volkswagen Amarok (2022), which will share the principal tech.
The Transit Connect van scheduled for launch next year will get the same platform as the Caddy 5 van introduced some time ago (watch the video for details). Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles takes leadership in this project.
Finally yet importantly, Ford will design a new van concept that will eventually provide the foundation for the next-gen Transporter. Overall, the two marques intend to produce eight million commercial vehicles using their shared tech.