Following years of discussions, Ford and Volkswagen officially signed off on a partnership agreement back in 2020, one that has since led to the debut of several collaborative projects. Many of these new Ford/VW models are of the ICE variety, but Volkswagen also lent its MEB platform for the creation of the new European Ford Explorer EV and Ford Capri EV, all as part of efforts that have saved both companies money in terms of development costs. However, it doesn’t seem as if this is the last Ford EV partnership, either.
“And I would just emphasize that the ambition at Ford for partnering on EVs is record level high,” CEO Jim Farley said during the automaker’s Q2 earnings call with investors. “We’re not going to make any announcements in earning call, but this is absolutely a flip the-script moment for our company. We have done partnerships like Volkswagen. We have learned how successful…how to be successful with the one-ton Transit that includes an electric vehicle. We really see that opportunity in front of us. But we are not going to partner to the level where we delegate our future and the future fitness for cost competitiveness outside the company.”
Ford and Volkswagen have stated numerous times in recent years that this partnership will continue to evolve and grow past the aforementioned Explorer and Capri EV models. Thus far, we’ve seen the new Ford Tourneo Connect emerge as little more than a rebadged version of the Volkswagen Caddy, the new VW Amarok based on the Ford Ranger, and – most recently – the soon-to-be revealed next-gen VW Transporter, which is based on the Transit Custom and will be built alongside it at the joint-venture Ford Otosan Assembly plant in Turkey.
These collaborations have clearly worked out well for The Blue Oval thus far, which is precisely why the automaker is looking at adding additional Ford EV partners moving forward. This past February, Farley also noted that the automaker will continue to partner with other companies – including its rivals – on future EV battery endeavors, too.
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Comment
Farley has taken every possible position on EVs. Perhaps he should get in or get out but him getting media coverage daily isn’t productive for the shareholders.