Volkswagen AG and Ford Motor Company have signed a memorandum of understanding.

[Dr Smith]

Link to Caradvice article:
https://www.caradvice.com.au/659051/...egic-alliance/

Business Wire:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...lliance-Extend

Detroit News:
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/bu...hip/715925002/

[mr smith]

Sad days ahead I fear. This Jim Hacket dude should stick to furniture, he appears to be undoing all the good work of Mulally.

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by mr smith

Sad days ahead I fear. This Jim Hacket dude should stick to furniture, he appears to be undoing all the good work of Mulally.

Huh?

In todays climate these partnership's are de rigueur, and its no different than the BT50/Ranger sharing common a common chassis etc.

Not the first time Ford and Volkswagen have worked together either.

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by Nikked

Huh?

In todays climate these partnership's are de rigueur, and its no different than the BT50/Ranger sharing common a common chassis etc.

Not the first time Ford and Volkswagen have worked together either.

Precisely, automakers have been working together for a long time. It helps to cut development costs while continuing to deliver such products as niche cars (Toybaru 86/BRZ, Supra/Z4, etc) and quality components (10spd transmission between GM and Ford).

I encourage more of this to happen, it only benefits the customers.

[mr smith]

Originally Posted by Nikked

Huh?

In todays climate these partnership's are de rigueur, and its no different than the BT50/Ranger sharing common a common chassis etc.

Not the first time Ford and Volkswagen have worked together either.

Yes and one is always the poor cousin, in the case of Ranger and BT it was the Mazda. It harks back to the desperate days of the ‘80s when most car companies had lost their way.

[Syndrome]

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

[csv8]

At least its not Great Wall!

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by csv8

At least its not Great Wall!

Saw one of these with a chrome "Y" after the great Wall badge.
Sorry couldn't help myself. please continue.....



It would be nice to see Ford re enter the Heavy vehicle market VW have a few class 6 - 8 trucks in their line up.

[danzvtil]

Wow, I wait with anticipation for a Rangerok.

[Rico 110s]

Originally Posted by danzvtil

Wow, I wait with anticipation for a Rangerok.

Or a mustang GTI Diesel.

[solarite_guy]

I can't help but think of the possibility this news may taint last weekends 24 hr Le Mans GTE Pro class results.

I know it shouldn't, but but stranger things have happened.

[4vxc]

with Vee Dub are they serious?

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by 4vxc

with Vee Dub are they serious?

Commercial vehicles.

[solarite_guy]

Keep in mind when we think of VW we should also think of Porsche. Audi, Lambo, Bugatti, Ducati and more. They employ more than 3 time the people as Ford.

They are not small potatoes.

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by solarite_guy

Keep in mind when we think of VW we should also think of Porsche. Audi, Lambo, Bugatti, Ducati and more. They employ more than 3 time the people as Ford.

They are not small potatoes.

Yes.

They’re the biggest Automotive group in the world in sales etc

[k981941]

How ironic it is that Volkswagen was offered up at the end of the Second World War and was knocked back by all car makers as nothing more than **** box that will come to nothing brought around by a crackpot before the war. To become one of worlds largest car manufacturers and profitable. Yet if it was picked up by others it be nothing more than a Vauxhall or Land Rover, bought and sold between other car manufacturers. It be a interesting partnership between the two.


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[minheim]

Originally Posted by k981941

How ironic it is that Volkswagen was offered up at the end of the Second World War and was knocked back by all car makers as nothing more than **** box that will come to nothing brought around by a crackpot before the war.

We could have had the VW plant and produced our own people's car. Imagine if that had happened and we were free to export an Australian car worldwide instead of having overseas offshoots. The following is from the Club VW page -

[I][I]An interesting side play in 1948 was the Australian government’s interest in the Volkswagen factory. The Labor government of the time wanted a lower-priced ‘people’s car’ than the Holden for the Australian people. Lloyd Hartnett of Holden fame was instructed by the Government to look into the viability of the VW and other European cars.

The Renault 750 was considered, but Renault insisted that no change be made to their product for Australian conditions. FIAT was also approached, but the same approach as for Renault was insisted upon. Hartnett wouldn’t recommend an arrangement with such conditions, so the Renault and FIAT plans were dropped.

The Australian government believed the VW to be very cheap to produce because at that time surplus production cars were being sold for whatever Volkswagen could get for them. Sold under these conditions it WAS a cheap car, but nobody at the Volkswagenwerk was doing any costings, and currency values in Europe hadn’t yet settled down.

The Australian government was planning to move the VW works down under and set them up in a wartime aircraft factory in Victoria. However there was no proof that the VW would have had public acceptance in Australia, and eventually the plan fell through. It is believed that another motor vehicle manufacturer ‘persuaded’ the government to let them in and set up a factory. As it turned out, a well-known British manufacturer took over the aircraft factory.

As it was, Australia, with its British heritage, connections and family ties, got dumped with lots of pre-war English ‘rubbish’.

[mick taylor]

Originally Posted by minheim

We could have had the VW plant and produced our own people's car. Imagine if that had happened and we were free to export an Australian car worldwide instead of having overseas offshoots. The following is from the Club VW page -

[I][I]An interesting side play in 1948 was the Australian government’s interest in the Volkswagen factory. The Labor government of the time wanted a lower-priced ‘people’s car’ than the Holden for the Australian people. Lloyd Hartnett of Holden fame was instructed by the Government to look into the viability of the VW and other European cars.

The Renault 750 was considered, but Renault insisted that no change be made to their product for Australian conditions. FIAT was also approached, but the same approach as for Renault was insisted upon. Hartnett wouldn’t recommend an arrangement with such conditions, so the Renault and FIAT plans were dropped.

The Australian government believed the VW to be very cheap to produce because at that time surplus production cars were being sold for whatever Volkswagen could get for them. Sold under these conditions it WAS a cheap car, but nobody at the Volkswagenwerk was doing any costings, and currency values in Europe hadn’t yet settled down.

The Australian government was planning to move the VW works down under and set them up in a wartime aircraft factory in Victoria. However there was no proof that the VW would have had public acceptance in Australia, and eventually the plan fell through. It is believed that another motor vehicle manufacturer ‘persuaded’ the government to let them in and set up a factory. As it turned out, a well-known British manufacturer took over the aircraft factory.

As it was, Australia, with its British heritage, connections and family ties, got dumped with lots of pre-war English ‘rubbish’.

Australia made VW Beetles and Van and ute here once you know.
The VW had a very good ride on crappy roads that we had back then even todays speed bumps are nothing for them to float over as fast as you like.

[Fordman1]

Wow!!!

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Did anyone stop to think that maybe VW is impressed with what Ford has planned
with commercial vehicles rather than Ford just plugging into VW products?

As I posted earlier, Ford is no1 in Europe in commercial vehicles and VW are well behind.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

As I posted earlier, Ford is no1 in Europe in commercial vehicles and VW are well behind.

What size commercial vehicles are you talking about ? What vans and utes.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

What size commercial vehicles are you talking about ? What vans and utes.

Yes..

[Dr Smith]

I see it more as a way of twinning their small/medium/large vans. Having been a buyer of 2 vehicles in this market I'd say VW have the best build and finish of any van on the market but don't offer the best value, the Transit is very good but especially in Australia, Ford Australia have shown no initiative by failing to increase the model range including the crew van version, Torneo version and the sport version which would have no competitor. They are being outsold by the Trafic and it doesn't have an auto transmission. The MY18.5 Transit Custom has some great safety tech, better cabin layout and more torque although the 125kW option isn't offered here and there is no excuse for not jumping to top 3 in sales.

[Junkyard-Dog]

An interesting alliance. A lot of history behind these companies.

[OzJavelin]

[cheap]

So the only question is which will be the dominant and which will be submissive?

Corporate marriages are rarely played on equal terms. My bet is that VW has deeper pockets and could end up controlling Ford.

But that won't happen on Trumps watch

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by cheap

So the only question is which will be the dominant and which will be submissive?

Corporate marriages are rarely played on equal terms. My bet is that VW has deeper pockets and could end up controlling Ford.

But that won't happen on Trumps watch

My bet is the opposite.

I’ll bookmark this thread, as I think one or two popular Ford commercial vehicles that are under development will be used by VW AG.

Ford have a VERY strong truck portfolio.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Fordman1

My bet is the opposite.

I’ll bookmark this thread, as I think one or two popular Ford commercial vehicles that are under development will be used by VW AG.

Ford have a VERY strong truck portfolio.

From what I can gather you are close to the mark. Ford is number 1 in commercial vehicles in Europe and VW are well behind. I think VW want to tap into Fords strong commercial vans.

A lot of employees are questioning why Ford, who have won most ethical companies awards, are getting involved with a cheating, criminal organisation like VW, especially after the Audi exec that was just arrested hours before this announcement, and others VW execs who have been jailed.

And apparently there is still some bad blood from a previous VW Sharan/Ford Galaxy joint venture decades ago that didn't end well.

But at this stage it's just an agreement to have talks. May not even go past that stage.

[Dr Smith]

Originally Posted by cheap

So the only question is which will be the dominant and which will be submissive?

Corporate marriages are rarely played on equal terms. My bet is that VW has deeper pockets and could end up controlling Ford.

But that won't happen on Trumps watch

I'm guessing Ford sell more Transits and Transit Customs worldwide then VW sells Transporters and Crafters....and we won't even talk about F-series sales numbers...

[k981941]

Originally Posted by OzJavelin

image

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