Volkswagen EV platform
Megan Reader | CNBC
Volkswagen is expanding its EV collaboration with Ford Motor, the company said on Monday, signing a contract to supply the EV architecture for a second Ford model for the European market.
As part of the expansion, Ford said it now expects to produce 1.2 million electric vehicles using the Volkswagen platform over six years starting in 2023, doubling previous production targets.
The news was part of Ford’s broader plan to launch electric vehicles in Europe, announced earlier Monday.
“Profitability and speed are now critical to finally achieving a breakthrough in electric vehicles in Europe. We are tackling both challenges with Ford,” said Thomas Schmoll, Head of Components at VW.
Ford and Volkswagen first announced a broad collaboration on electric and autonomous vehicles in 2019. The partnership has since expanded to include a joint effort to build internal combustion engine commercial vehicles and Volkswagen’s $2.6 billion investment in Argo AI, a Ford-backed self-driving startup. based in Pittsburgh.
It is historically very unusual for two global automakers to collaborate at this depth. But such collaborations have become more common in recent years as automakers grapple with the costs and resources needed to transition to zero-emission, higher-automation vehicles.
General Motors and Honda have a similar partnership, in which Honda has invested in GM’s self-driving car subsidiary Cruise and committed to using GM’s electric vehicle technology in two future Honda models for the US market. The two automakers have been collaborating on hydrogen fuel cells since 2013, and most recently formed a joint venture to mass-produce fuel cells in Michigan. But last year, Honda scrapped a long-term plan to use GM’s electric vehicle architecture and said it would develop its own for new models coming later this decade.
The first Ford model to use Volkswagen’s electric vehicle architecture will be a battery-electric crossover, which is expected to begin shipping next year. Ford has yet to release details about the second planned model.
Both will be built at the Ford plant in Cologne, Germany.