Trucks, vans and EVs, my goodness!

Ford, Volkswagen declared two years ago that they would explore the possibility to jointly develop vehicles. They expanded their partnership a year later and today the two share the details. Ford will design and build a midsize pickup truck and a commercial van of one-ton weight for the pair, while VW will create the smaller van for them. Both companies will collaborate on electric and autonomous vehicles. The partnership will focus on commercial vehicles, self driving cars and electric vehicles. However, today’s details give a clearer picture of what we can expect.

Ford is currently developing the next-generation Ranger. It will be the foundation for the next-gen Volkswagen Amarok which will arrive in 2022. However, it won’t be their only vehicle. We could also see two commercial vans arriving as early as next year. The small city van will be built on the latest VW Caddy model. The one-ton cargo van will likely replace the Ford Transit. Ford will also make an electric vehicle for Europe with the electric MEB platform from Volkswagen.

According to the companies, eight million trucks and vans could be manufactured over their life spans. This doesn’t even include the 600,000+ EVs Ford could produce every year. Volkswagen and Argo AI signed a $2.6B deal last week. Both automakers will be working with the company. The company has plans to commercially deploy its self-driving technology in Europe and the US.

The joint venture will see the companies share products and technology, but the partnership does not include cross-ownership. According to the press release, the agreement will not affect their competition. The next-gen Ford Ranger will be competing directly with the next-gen VW Amarok. Ford will still engineer and build them both. The deal will help both companies to find and exploit efficiencies. It should also allow them to play to their strengths while simultaneously saving money.