Ford and Volkswagen have had a collaboration agreement for four years in strategic sectors such as industrial vehicles and electromobility. Without going any further, the oval firm presented just a few days ago its first electric car based on the MEB modular platform of its partners, the new explorerwhich will arrive in Europe at the end of the year.
Despite the recent dissolution of the autonomous driving company Argo AI, owned by both manufacturers, this cooperation is expected to increase in the future. Oliver BlumeCEO of the Volkswagen Group, recently confirmed that this partnership is intensifying. “We are only at the beginning of our cooperation project.”
After the Explorer, Ford will develop a second model on the same platform, the crossover sports Capri. Both vehicles will be located in the C segment (compact), one of the most important in our market. martin sanderhead of the brand in the old continent, is clear that without Volkswagen “We wouldn’t have a volume electric vehicle for the European market at this time.”
Ford’s next launch in Europe will be the Cougar electric, which will use an adapted version of the B2E platform of the thermal Puma. The future Mustang Mach-E The second generation, which will begin to be manufactured at the Spanish plant in Almussafes (Valencia) throughout 2026, will also use its own architecture: the GE2.
Volkswagen will launch the ID.2 in 2025
Does this mean that Ford will stop using Volkswagen-sourced technology in its future models? Not necessarily. During a recent interview with CoachSander has revealed that, although it has not yet been decided whether the MEB platform will continue to be used, it is an option that has not been ruled out. “Not decided does not mean that we have decided not to do it.”
This opens the door to the arrival of a hypothetical electric Fiesta sitting on the platform MEB Entry, an architecture developed specifically for the B segment that will debut in 2025 with the CUPRA Raval and Volkswagen ID.2. However, for the moment Ford does not consider it a priority to replace the Fiesta, whose production will end this summer after 47 years on sale, although it does not rule out doing so later.
«We have to be wise in our choices and decide where to spend our money, where to make the necessary investment to reach a positive business. Right now, with battery costs where they are, I don’t see an electric Fiesta any time soon«.
Source | Coach
