DETROIT — On Tuesday, Ford and Volkswagen revealed details of a global alliance.
In a joint statement, the automakers said that “Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess and Ford CEO Jim Hackett confirmed that the companies intend to develop commercial vans and medium-sized pickups for global markets beginning as early as 2022.”
The alliance will be strictly an agreement to collaborate; there will be no merger or “shared ownership,” Ford and VW said.
According to the companies, “the alliance will drive significant scale and efficiencies and enable both companies to share investments in vehicle architectures that deliver distinct capabilities and technologies.”
On a conference call with the media and Wall Street analysts, Hackett expressed a strong view that, given the level of new technology entering the auto industry and the arrival of new players such as Tesla and Waymo, carmakers much work together.
“You can’t do it alone,” he said. “We’re forging an alliance as a true collaboration.”
For his part, Diess said that VW and Ford have “developed trust for each other.”
The outlines of the new alliance were fairly modest. Volkswagen has previously announced a pickup truck, the Amarok, while Ford is a leader in the US pickup market, with the bestselling F-150 and a forthcoming Ranger mid-size truck. In Europe and the US, Ford also has a strong commercial van business.