A couple of days ago, Ford and VW announced the signing of an agreement that will see the car manufacturers develop different models for each other.
Perhaps most significantly, Ford will build and engineer a new medium-sized pickup that will spawn the next-generation Ranger and the new VW Amarok. In the press release announcing the partnership, chairman of the board of management of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Thomas Sedran, admitted that had it not been for the partnership with Ford, the VW Amarok would not have survived to a second generation.
“Ultimately it is our customers who will benefit, as without the cooperation we would not have developed a new Amarok,” he said, as noted by Motor 1.
Read More: Ford And VW Sign Agreements Paving Way For New Amarok, EV And Commercial Vans
VW’s press release regarding the partnership with Ford added that the successor to the outgoing Amarok will be made at Ford’s Silverton plant in South Africa from 2022.
“What is important for both partners is the utilization of the same platform. At the same time we will both be able to fully deploy our strengths. Through custom designs and interfaces we will clearly differentiate the two models,” said Sedran. “For us as Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, our sights with the Amarok successor are on our main markets, above all in the EMEA economic area (Europe, the Middle East and Africa).”
In addition to Ford developing the new Ranger and the VW Amarok, Ford will receive a new van model based on the Volkswagen Caddy. The American car manufacturer will also build its own electric vehicle on Volkswagen’s MEB platform.
