That's possible, but even if Ford buy engines from ram at a low cost, I don't know what they would buy the 3.0 from them when their own turbocharged v6 motors are so much better. Ecoboost engines are basically best in class as far as turbocharged engines are concerned.
I could see Ford outsourcing powertrains in segments where it doesn't really matter, and they aren't all that remarkable, think things like the escape engine lineup. But in areas where Ford is a powertrain leader, or where those engines are still seen as being a major point of differentiation in the product, I firmly believe Ford will continue to invest.
I could see Ford giving the 5.0 or their larger ecoboosts several additional reiterations in the coming years and decades.
As with all things, it'll be a mix. No-one cares what kind of engine an edge has, so I could totally see Ford buying from an external engine supplier for products like that, but still developing next gen truck and performance vehicle powertrains in house.
Rivian was going to be the next Tesla and everybody (Ford) wanted in. Then reality hit, its market cap crashed, and investors (Ford, and others) bailed. Even today it's no guarantee that Rivian will make it, especially in light of the generally poor EV market in the U.S. They've yet to make a net profit.
I wonder if Ford has seen an opportunity to pick up at low cost, the Ram 3.0 I-6 turbo,
maybe indifferent sales of that engine in Ram 1500 has Ram knocking on Ford’s door…
Also,I kind of agree with biker with regards to outsourcing smaller capacity engines
and transmissions from say, VW?
The main reason for Ford doing any of this would be to reduce ICE production assets
as in, getting them off the books by out sourcing like it’s already done with big chunks
of its other production assets…
So, If they don’t see a down side to this, could that be a future problem?
I don’t really understand why Ford bailed on their Rivian investment so quickly. Money was already spent. They have solid underpinnings that could have merged with Ford efforts to saves costs.
Ford Australia is most likely waiting until 2026 when our new low sulphur
fuels become available, Ford Europe stopped making the Euro 5 specific Puma
so that dried up sales in Australia until after Christmas when we get Euro 6 version.
So hoping Territory comes when the new fuel is available.
It’s common practice across several region that Ford tests the upper price thresholds and with it buyer dedication.
Maybe taking premium pricing and “right sizing sale” a little too far to the high side….
Given the big price difference, Ford deliberately accentuates traffic towards the popular Bronco Raptor.
Ranger Raptor is there for buyers who want a bargain but open to a pickup versus the iconic Bronco.
The best thing Ford ever did was to make Bronco the first T6 mark 2 vehicle developed, sharing those
North American gasoline power trains with Ranger is what keeps the costs down for RR, thank you Ford.
This also presumably answers the question of the long-term status of the (stupid) Ford/VW tie-up, which I assume will disappear as these products phase in, and the VW-made ones phase out.
Rivian R2 'Will Underpin All Future EV Projects' At Volkswagen
Not only will the Volkswagen Group have access to a shared software platform to help close the Cariad-shaped gap in its vehicles, but it turns out that the platform that underpins Rivian's upcoming SUV will actually become the official digital brain of all future Volkswagen-branded EVs.
Everything Volkswagen touches in the EV space will now be humming along on the same platform and tech stack that will be used as the building blocks for the highly anticipated Rivian R2.
That news comes straight from Rivian's Chief Software Officer, Wassym Bensaid. In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Bensaid noted that the R2's modular platform is set to be the secret sauce that makes up every single Volkswagen EV in the foreseeable future.
Yes, you read that right—the R2's DNA will be in not just one future product, but all of Volkswagen's new battery-powered models moving forward. That all starts with the upcoming affordable VW Every1 (which will have a new name by the time it releases), which will use an off-the-shelf version of the zonal architecture, and then trickle into newly-released models thereafter.
Here's what Bensaid revealed:
Notice the last bit of Bensaid's quote. He mentioned that "each of the brands" will have the ability to "express their own identity." Reading between the lines, that tells us that it's not just the VW brand that will have access to the R2's underpinnings.
Audi? Check. Porsche? Also check. Don't forget newcomer Scout, plus Lamborghini, Skoda, Seat and all of the others under the VW group umbrella.
We already knew that these brands would have access to the software joint venture, but Bensaid's reveal confirms that all brands under the portfolio will be able to have access to the R2 platform and tech stack.
Here's another snippet from the interview that explains it further:
More at the link above.
Definitely interesting news.