Volkswagen and Ford have confirmed that they are in talks about jointly developing and building a series of commercial vehicles including vans.
A joint statement from Volkswagen and Ford said the two companies are thinking about a strategic alliance and “investigating several joint projects,” including developing a series of commercial vehicles for international markets.
The statement said the alliance did not include an equity swap or cross-ownership stakes.
The brief communique gave few additional details, other than to say the both automakers were “exploring potential projects across a number of areas,” with commercial vehicles.
Ford is the market leader in medium-duty trucks and pick ups in the US and its F-series pickup has been the top selling vehicle of any kind in that country for decades.
Volkswagen, which owns both MAN and Scania truck brands in Europe and has an 18 per cent shareholding in Navistar with an eye on a controlling inerest in that company, recently announced a commercial vehicle alliance with Japanese truck maker and Toyota affiliate, Hino.
Volkswagen and Hino said they would think about cooperating in a number of areas involving diesel and gasoline-electric hybrid engines, connectivity and self-driving technologies.
