Volkswagen and Ford come together

MANILA: Ford and Volkswagen have collaborated to make a “global alliance” that will involve the two famous carmakers to build up projects in various ranges. The ranges will include all the projects starting from commercial vehicles to incorporating new services. The alliance will also boost up both of their competitiveness in the global market. Both the companies have joined as a team and formed a committee led by the Ford CEO, Jim Hackett and his counterpart Herbert Diess, the CEO of VW. The committee also includes senior executives from both the brands. However, the newly announced alliance does not entail any ownership stake as for now.

The first co-developed product of this global alliance will be a new pickup truck, which will be launched all around the globe by 2022. Besides this, the committee will also work on the projects to increase profits of both the companies from 2023. Addressing at the ceremony of the collaboration, both the leaders have said that they are “open to considering additional vehicle programmes in the future.”

They have also said that both Ford and Volkswagen will maintain their brand attributes and will share the development costs of the product. Apart from the pickup truck, Ford will take the lead in building and engineering larger commercial vans only for the European market. On the other hand, Volkswagen will take part in engineering and building smaller city vans.

The global alliance, which is referred to as one of the largest non-merger partnerships, also means that Ford will build an all-new Ranger which is likely to remain outside the US. The Ranger will underpin the next-gen VW Amarok. Moreover, Ford’s next compact Transit Connect may become rebranded as a VW Caddy. Mr. Hackett announced that the committee would provide details related to how the alliance will influence different areas of Ford’s operations. This also indicates that both the carmakers may join in Latin America, where Ford is prepping to reconsider its services to restore the sales growth.