Volkswagen CEO Says EV Partnership With Ford Is "Intensifying"

During VW Group's 2022 results presentation, Blume said of the Ford tie-up, "We are only at the beginning of our cooperation project."

By: Steven Loveday

Mar 16, 2023 at 2:54pm ET

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It comes as no surprise that Volkswagen Group and Ford aim to ramp up their cooperative efforts for future electric cars. Both automakers hope to eventually overtake Tesla as leaders in the EV space, all while competing with brands that have similarly compelling goals, including GM and Hyundai. Combining forces could be the ticket to accelerating such efforts.

As reported by Automotive News, Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume just reiterated that its partnership with Ford is just beginning, and, in fact, it's "intensifying." When it comes to making plans to be global EV leaders, now is arguably the time to move forward, and as quickly as possible. Most successful global brands are already working on a major transition, and laggards may struggle to keep up.

Ford is among the many brands making big plans to reinvent itself going forward, and part of those plans include the official unveiling of a fully electric SUV that rides on Volkswagen's MEB platform. Ford will unveil the EV on March 21, 2023.

That said, Ford will eventually move forward with its own next-gen EV architecture and software, which means it won't have to rely on VW's MEB platform in the future. Nonetheless, Blume claimed at Volkswagen Group's recent 2022 results presentation that its industrial partnership with the Big Three automaker is gaining strength. He shared:

"We are only at the beginning of our cooperation project."

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Back in 2020, Ford and VW announced plans to co-produce 8 million commercial vehicles, in addition to the plans for the passenger EV tie-up. Such commercial plans continue with the Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok, as well as various projects related to the Ford Transit Connect and other electric passenger and cargo vans. For example, Ford aims to produce a Volkswagen version of its new Transit Custom in Turkey.

VW Group CEO Blume also added that the automotive manufacturer still plans to provide Indian automaker Mahindra with its MEB platform as well. Volkswagen Group previously announced in an official statement that Mahindra's BE and XUV brands will use its MEB architecture as the foundation for over one million vehicles during the course of the partnership.

Source: Automotive News