VW and Ford said in June that they were considering a joint development and production alliance that would include light commercial vehicles and could strengthen the companies’ overall competitiveness. The goal would be to form a “strategic alliance,” an upgrade over the industry’s more common project-based cooperations.
In terms of numbers, VW dominates Ford. It delivered 10.7 million vehicles worldwide last year, generating USD268 billion in revenue vs. Ford’s 6.6 million vehicle sales and USD156 billion in revenue. This kind of mismatch has led to conflicts in the past.
Volkswagen believes a deal could generate at least USD464 million annually in gross added earnings in the midterm by focusing its initial efforts on the joint development and manufacture of light commercial vehicles such as delivery vans and utility trucks.
Ford and VW previously cooperated on large minivans with the Volkswagen Sharan and Ford Galaxy built at the jointly owned AutoEuropa plant near Lisbon, Portugal, starting in 1995. Ford later sold its share to VW and moved the Galaxy onto its global C/D-segment platform that also underpins models such as the S-Max minivan and Mondeo sedan.
Also, Volkswagen is looking to save development costs on a second-generation Amarok pickup. First debuting 8-years ago, the VW truck that competes with Ford’s Ranger is the only one of the group’s 300-plus models to use body-on-frame construction common to pickups. More on this alliance in the coming weeks.
