Volkswagen, Ford confirm talks on potential commercial vehicle tie-up

Volkswagen and Ford Motor are in talks about jointly developing and building a series of commercial vehicles including vans, the companies verified on Tuesday.

In a joint statement, Volkswagen and Ford stated they were thinking about a strategic alliance and “investigating several joint projects,” including development of a series of commercial vehicles for international markets.

The companies stated the alliance did not include an equity swap or cross-ownership stakes.

The brief statement gave few additional information, other than to say the both automakers were “exploring potential projects across a number of areas,” consisting commercial vehicles.

Ford heads medium-duty trucks in the United States, and its F-series pickup has been the top U.S. vehicle for decades.

Volkswagen, that owns the MAN and Scania truck brands in Europe, previously this year formed a commercial vehicle alliance with Japanese truckmaker Hino Motors, a Toyota affiliate. Volkswagen and Hino stated they would think about cooperating in a number of areas diesel and gasoline-electric hybrid engines, connectivity and self-driving technologies.

Volkswagen also has an alliance with Navistar International and has stated it is open to purchasing a majority stake in the U.S. truckmaker.