Ford and VW Forge Ahead

[mackinaw]

"FRANKFURT/DETROIT -- Volkswagen Group and Ford Motor Co. are pushing ahead with plans to team up on electric and self-driving vehicles even as the coronavirus derails other projects, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.  The deal is expected to close by the end of next month, with both sides recognizing a need to share the large investments needed to develop battery-powered and autonomous cars, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the negotiations are private........Under the plan, VW will invest about $2.6 billion in Argo. That includes $1 billion in funding and the $1.6 billion Autonomous Intelligent Driving unit of the German company's Audi brand to compete with Alphabet's Waymo and General Motors's Cruise unit........As part of the widened cooperation, Ford intends to produce at least one mass-market car in Europe based on VW's main electric-vehicle underpinnings, dubbed MEB, with more than 600,000 targeted deliveries over six years."

 

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