The two manufacturers Volkswagen and Ford announced further details about their cooperation.
Already last year became knownthat the car maker Volkswagen and ford Autonomous Driving and E-Mobility will work together and create a common cooperation block form. Some details have been worked out.
Hackett & Diess – bosses of Ford and VW. Source: AN
Yesterday, Tuesday, the two announced that they would jointly tackle the development of vans and some pickup models. In addition, they want to research together in e-mobility and autonomous driving. The stated goal is the saving of research funds through synergies. People talk about millions of dollars that they want to save.
The idea is that the respective business in the markets Strengthen the US and Europe and thus cushion the high research costs. Mutual buying of company shares, the so-called cross-ownership, but excluded. Ford wants to produce its vehicles for certain markets and Volkswagen wants to help develop a van for Ford. The production is to be made possible thereby also in Ford works. The fruits of this cooperation are to be picked in 2023.
Concerning Autonomous Driving, E-mobility and Mobility Services, they agreed to explore the possibilities of cooperation. It is planned to combine the relevant developments. Therefore, teams of Argo AI, a Ford venture, and researchers from VW collaborate. Further development agreements are to be agreed behind closed doors.
The joint research is set against the background that more and more startups and tech giants are pushing the market for autonomous driving. Such has Waymo, the sister of Google, already a robot taxi service in the US state of Arizona started, So too Aptiv and Lyft in Las Vegas. Plans for this year General Motors such a step for California,
source (English)
About David Flora
I’ve been writing about the topic of Autonomous & Connected Driving since 2011 and also talk about it on other sites like the Smart Mobility Hub. I studied social sciences at the HU Berlin and since 2012 I am a freelance journalist. Contact: mail@autonomes-fahren.de