Ford Plans To Reduce Reliance On Volkswagen Electric Vehicle Technology

Recently, according to related media reports, Ford will reduce its dependence on Volkswagen Group's electric vehicle technology in the process of shifting its European product lineup to pure electric vehicles. Ford is spending $2 billion to revamp its plant in Cologne, Germany, to produce two cars based on VW's MEB platform, while ending production of the Fiesta (Fiesta) hatchback at the plant.

It is reported that Ford's first electric car based on Volkswagen's MEB platform will be launched in March and will be similar in size to the Volkswagen ID.4 crossover. Ford defines the second electric vehicle based on the MEB platform as a "sporty crossover" and it will go into production at the Cologne plant next year.

Martin Sander, head of electric vehicles, said that Ford has not yet made a final decision on its future cooperation with Volkswagen on electric vehicles. The company saved at least two years of development time. He also stressed that Ford is open to partnering with other automakers to produce electric vehicles, with potential future partners including Volkswagen or another company.

Ford also plans to revamp its plant in Valencia, Spain, which currently makes the Kuga compact SUV, as well as the Galaxy and S-Max vans. In a few years, Ford plans to produce software-defined electric vehicles based on a new electric vehicle architecture at the plant, which means that new electric vehicles produced by Ford at the plant will no longer use Volkswagen's MEB platform. Separately, electric vehicles built at Ford's Valencia plant will use its own software with advanced driver assistance features.

By 2026, Ford plans to sell 600,000 electric vehicles a year in Europe. Ford has said that its passenger car lineup in Europe will be all-electric by 2030, and it expects two-thirds of its commercial van sales by then will also be an all-electric or plug-in hybrid.