Volkswagen Open To Sharing Electric Vehicle Platform With Other Carmakers

Earlier this year in June, Volkswagen and Ford confirmed that they are considering a strategic alliance that will include the development of lightweight commercial vehicles. And now, four months later, Volkswagen CFO Frank Witter has confirmed that the German carmaker is open to more partnerships even in different verticals, including the EV space.

Witter also hinted at the possibility of the brand sharing its EV exclusive MEB platform with other brands apart from its subsidiary brands - Audi, Skoda and Seat. When asked about lending VW’s MEB platform to Ford for building EVs, Witter reportedly said, “Whether we might provide access to other brands outside of the VW Group is theoretically possible, but there is no decision.”

Volkswagen plans to have 27 different models based on the MEB platform across four different brands starting with the Volkswagen I.D. Neo. The BMW i3-rival is all set to go into production by November 2019 at VW’s Zwickau plant in Germany. It is expected to be followed by the I.D. Crozz crossover in the international markets.

For India, the first electric vehicle to come from Volkswagen Group would either be from Audi or Porsche. Volkswagen has no plans to offer its I.D. range of electric vehicles in India yet.

Ford might plan to offer an electric vehicle in India, but they are expected to come from its partnership with Mahindra. If we get to see Ford EVs based on VW’s MEB platform, they are expected to cater to developed markets, in our opinion.