Volkswagen, Ford seek strategic alliance

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Volkswagen AG and Ford Motor announced on June 19 that the two automakers have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore several joint projects, including developing and building a range of commercial vehicles to better meet customers’ ever-changing demands worldwide.

All of the potential cooperation projects are targeted to enhance the competitiveness of the two companies. Both Volkswagen and Ford confirmed that the strategic alliance will not involve the equity arrangements, including cross ownership stakes.

"Ford is committed to improving our fitness as a business and leveraging adaptive business models – which include working with partners to improve our effectiveness and efficiency," Jim Farley, Ford's president of Global Markets, said in the statement. "This potential alliance with the Volkswagen AG is another example of how we can become more fit as a business, while creating a winning global product portfolio and extending our capabilities."

Thomas Sedran, VW Group's head of strategy, said that the two companies' strong and complementary positions in different commercial vehicle segments will help them to better meet the evolving needs of customers and the ever-changing market. He also added that the strategic alliance is also a very crucial part of Volkswagen AG's 2025 strategy. The potential industrial cooperation with Ford is seen as an opportunity to improve competitiveness of both companies globally.