Volkswagen Group’s negotiations with Ford and Ford’s Argo AI autonomous affiliate are close to producing a collaboration on autonomous cars, according to VW CEO Herbert Diess, and a deal could be announced as early as next month.
| Ford CEO Jim Hackett left, VW CEO Herbert Diess |
VW and Ford signed a deal in March to develop a pickup truck and have been in talks about extending the alliance to include autonomous driving and mobility services. Those talks are “progressing well” and are close to being finalized, Diess told a gathering of the carmaker’s 500 most senior executives on Thursday in Wolfsburg, Germany.
Most of the thorniest issues have been resolved and the two companies envision a comprehensive collaboration creating a global colossus in the self-driving space. The partnership would rival Alphabet’s Waymo and General Motors’ Cruise unit in ambition and scope.
Self-driving cars have emerged as key battleground between automakers and technology giants in the race to develop robo-taxis and driverless delivery vehicles. These programs require investments in the billions of dollars, while regulatory frameworks vary across the globe, complicating testing and deployment.
A payoff for the huge sums that need to be spent is difficult to predict, as a broader rollout in the passenger-car space might take years longer than initially anticipated. Ford’s Hackett has said autonomous cars and other emerging mobility services could grow to a $10tn market.
Shortly ago, VW ended their partnership with self-driving car software firm Aurora, after Aurora said they will build autonomous platforms for commercial vehicles with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
Ford’s majority-owned subsidiary Argo AI are building an automated “driver” that could compete with Aurora’s technology.
