Ford recently said it would scale back its use of VW’s MEB platform to only two vehicles.
VW’s CEO now says both companies are only at the beginning of their collaboration.
This could indicate work on different projects, such as commercial vehicles, will continue.
Ford and Volkswagen are working together on a number of projects but Ford recently said it would develop its future EVs on its own.
Nevertheless, Volkswagen’s CEO has clarified that the two companies are still only at the beginning of their collaboration, which means only electric vehicles could have been affected by Ford’s decision.
The American automaker had chosen to partner with the VW group on a limited series of electric vehicles aimed at the European market which will use the same MEB platform as the Volkswagen ID. 4.
It now seems that only two electric Ford models will share this platform, the first of which will be launched less than a week from now.
After the second model is introduced, it seems that every other EV to wear the Ford badge will be developed in-house.
This is not a huge surprise since the automaker’s goal with this partnership was to offer new models in Europe faster and cheaper than it could manage on its own.
As VW has now confirmed, this doesn’t mean the end for the Ford-Volkswagen relationship, however.
Indeed, the two automakers have been collaborating on commercial models in Europe for a long time already and everything indicates they could continue to do so for a long time.
Currently, Volkswagen builds the new Ford Tourneo Connect compact cargo van in Poland since it is only a restyled version of its own Caddy.
In exchange, Ford assembles the VW Amarok in South Africa and the new Transporter in Turkey since these models are rebranded versions of the Ranger and Transit Custom respectively.
While Ford won’t use the MEB platform for its EVs anymore, Volkswagen found another partner which will use its EV technology.
Indeed, Indian manufacturer Mahindra wants to sell over 1 million vehicles based on the MEB platform under its XUV and BE brands in the coming years.
Source: Automotive News Europe
