The companies will develop vans and trucks together by 2022
The first auto show of the year, North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) 2019 has been flagged off in Detroit and is showcasing some of the upcoming models from the automakers around the world. This motor show is not just a platform for manufacturers to showcase their models but also a place for them to build new alliances. One such alliance that is coming up in the backdrop of Detroit auto show is from the German automaker Volkswagen and American giant Ford.
VW and Ford is expected to join forces on commercial vehicles and is likely to expand into joint development of electric and self-driving technology. Herbert Diess, Chief Executive VW group has confirmed that companies have been discussing about the vans and commercial vehicles in recent months. The next generation VW Amarok will be built on an all-new Ford Ranger pickup truck platform.
Sources suggest that the framework of the alliance is likely to include the pooling of resources in autonomous technology and VW Investing in that Ford business and, Ford would license MEB, which is Volkswagen’s modular car platform for electric cars. VW’s Chief Executive has also confirmed at the auto show that the alliance will include Volkswagen getting access to Ford’s Ranger pickup truck platform.
The expanding alliance will also highlight the pressure on global automobile manufacturers to manage the costs of developing electric and self-driving vehicles, as well as technology required to meet tougher emission standards for the internal combustion vehicles.
Compared to Ford the Volkswagen group is doing great in terms of global sales. It had recently published the registration figures for the year 2018 and it revealed the VW group delivered 10.8 Million vehicles last year, which is 0.9 percent more than the previous year. It is now neck-and-neck with Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi in the race to be the world’s biggest vehicle manufacturer. Rivals Toyota motors and Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi have not released 2018 registration figures yet.
The VW-Ford alliance would help Ford achieve its goal of doubling global pretax profit margins to 8 percent by 2020, up from 4.4 percent in the third quarter of 2018. Ford had created a separate unit for its self-driving cars in 2018 and expects to launch self-driving vehicles for sale by 2021, when a new architecture designed specifically for autonomous vehicles is expected to be ready.
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