The tie-up strengthens.
Despite insisting that their focus was majorly on commercial vehicles, it seems that the discussions between American company Ford & German juggernaut Volkswagen have reached a critical juncture, with the two companies agreeing to jointly-develop the next-generation of their award-winning utes. The Ranger today still holds the title of being the most car-like ute to drive, while the Amarok takes the cake at the most refined mainstream offering (short of the Mercedes-Benz X-Class, of course).
This is all part of the previously-announced VW & Ford ‘global alliance’ which would see the two companies explore collaborations and projects more freely. The alliance will be overseen by a joint committee, headed by VW boss Herbert Diess & Ford supremo Jim Hackett, and will not involve any cross-ownership of the two companies.
The agreement, as reported by Automotive News Europe, will permit both companies to remain agile in the ever-changing automotive landscape, and not tie-up too much in the way of capital as the industry moves towards self-driving and zero-emissions vehicles.
This is critical, as despite the popularity of VW’s Amarok and Ford’s Ranger, it’s undeniable that the two firms need to keep their sights focused on the future of mobility, and so plunging too much capital into developing the next-generation of both models would not be all that sensible.
The agreement by the two firms to jointly-develop passenger utes adds another layer to the initial ‘collaboration investigation’ by the two firms together, as initially the discussions were supposed to be surrounding commercial vehicles like vans and trucks. It’s already been reported that Volkswagen will look to develop a range of vans utilising Ford’s Transit as a base, though “additional vehicle programmes” could be considered at a later time.
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