VW And Ford Moving Ahead With EV Tech Sharing Strategy Despite COVID-19 Delays

Despite having to deal with various coronavirus pandemic delays, the VW Group and Ford are still planning to move ahead with their tech sharing strategy.

According to people familiar with the matter, the deal is expected to close by the end of next month, as both carmakers recognize the need to share the load when it comes to the development of battery-powered and autonomous cars, reports Autonews Europe.

Meanwhile, a VW spokesman said that the talks with Ford are progressing well, without going into specifics.

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Alan Hall, a representative of Ford’s autonomous-car partner Argo AI, said that the plan is on track to close in Q2 of this year, which is what Ford expects too. Also, with the industry being as it is right now, both carmakers are eager to team up and save costs on light commercial vehicles and mid-size pickups.

The plan is for VW to invest about $2.6 billion in Argo, which remains on track for the first half, according to Ford. The latter’s strategy however has been set back by the viral outbreak, with a commercial rollout of robotaxis and driverless delivery pods delayed until 2022 in the U.S.

The U.S. carmaker now needs more time to assess the impact of the pandemic on consumer attitudes toward self-driving cars and car sharing programs. Ford also canceled plans to jointly develop an all-electric Lincoln model with Rivian, but still intends to produce at least one mass-market car in Europe based on VW’s MEB platform.