Ford will reportedly unveil an SUV based on Volkswagen’s electric vehicle platform in March 2023, almost three years after the automotive icons announced they would be collaborating on a range of vehicles – including the Ford Ranger and VW Amarok twins.
The first of two Ford SUVs based on The new electric car platform from Volkswagen According to reports from overseas, it will be presented in March this year.
In June 2020, US carmaker Ford announced it would be developing a range of vehicles with Volkswagen, including using the German company’s “MEB” electric car platform for its European battery-powered vehicles.
German publication automobile week reports that Ford’s first Volkswagen-based electric SUV will be unveiled in March 2023 – four months after it was teased in a post on a social media platform Twitter by Martin Sander, General Manager of Ford’s European “Model e” division.
Mr. Sander tells automobile week Technical collaboration with Volkswagen has reduced the development time of its own electric car platforms by two years, allowing the launch of a new dedicated Ford plug-in vehicle to be accelerated.
“The cooperation with Volkswagen is great and works. By using the MEB, we saved at least two years of development time,” said Mr. Sander automobile week.
automobile week reports that production of Ford’s electric SUV will begin later this year in Cologne, Germany, at the factory where the Fiesta has been made since 1979 – although the small hatchback is due to be phased out this year.
Ford is also reportedly preparing to convert its Valencia, Spain factory to produce electric cars later this decade, replacing existing petrol-powered models only available in Europe, such as the Kuga, Galaxy and S-Max.
Mr. Sander tells automobile week Ford has not yet decided which electric models will be produced in Valencia, but none of the battery-powered cars will use Volkswagen’s MEB platform.
“We will use an all-electric platform in Valencia. However, it is currently still unclear when this will happen and which models we will build there,” said Sander.
Ford previously set a target of having 100 percent of its European sales come from electric models by 2030, five years before the European Union bans the sale of new petrol and diesel-powered vehicles.
In Australia, Ford has committed to bringing five electrified models to local showrooms by 2024, including all-electric and hybrid vehicles.
The Ford Mustang Mach-E SUV and a hybrid variant of the Ford Ranger ute are expected to fill the remaining two spots, although this has yet to be confirmed by the automaker.
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