Jump to content
News
Reviews
Discussons
Activity
Create New...
Close
  • William Maley
    William Maley

    By William Maley •

    Volkswagen Could Use Ford's Plants in the U.S. To Build Vehicles

      This could be an interesting development

    Back in June, Ford and Volkswagen signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a new alliance that would focus on commercial vehicles. Since then, the two companies have been in discussions about it and there have been various rumors flying about. Yesterday, Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess added some more fuel to the fire.

    Speaking to reporters outside of the White House, Diess revealed that the German automaker is interested in using Ford's plants in the U.S. to build vehicles.

    "We might use Ford capacity here in the U.S. to build cars for us," said Diess.

    “We need additional capacity here in the United States, we need an additional car plant for VW and Audi combined.”

    The company is in "quite advanced negotiations in Tennessee" about a new plant in the state - Volkswagen operates one in Chattanooga for the Passat and Atlas. But Diess did say "there might be other options as well," most likely talking about using some of Ford's plants in the U.S.

    For now, this is an idea being floating out there. The two are continuing their talks about what this alliance will look like. Diess said more details would come out in January.

    Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

    Go to articles

    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    G. David Felt

    Makes total sense as it would also help Ford out with under utilized manufacturing and could reduce the estimated 25,000 layoffs that the financial world says is coming with Fords $11 Billion restructuring.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    A Horse With No Name
    49 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

    This may well be more about cutting costs in Germany than just having vehicle capacity in the USA.

    VW needs to have saleable product to need Fords production capacity. Subaru took over the market for funky cars  for hipsterish people over a decade ago and never looked back. Golf sells in Tiny numbers here, huge in Europe. VW already has Puebla and Chattanooga. Their chance of needing more production capacity is dismal.

    Outside of a very few vehicles, very little is built in Germany for the US market IIRC,

    49 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

    The layoffs will still happen,

    UAW is going to soon equal Unknown Auto Workers.

    1 hour ago, dfelt said:

    Makes total sense as it would also help Ford out with under utilized manufacturing and could reduce the estimated 25,000 layoffs that the financial world says is coming with Fords $11 Billion restructuring.

    More layoffs will follow.

    Edited by A Horse With No Name
    • Like 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Drew Dowdell
    2 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

    Does this union remind anyone else of the union Between Sears and K-mart.,..two companies in trouble that ended up feeding off of each others misery?

    No. Sears and K-Mart actually merged to become a single company. 

    This is actually a smart move by VW and it works out for Ford.  It's a way to get around Trump Tariffs while also not committing billions to build another plant in the US. Ford gets some financial relief from the burden of running these plants.  I actually expect these types of arrangements to become more common. 

    Purely a speculative example based on no evidence, but Benz could contract with GM to build E-Classes in Hamtramck to get around the tariff. Or BMW using Lordstown to build 3-series.  It would help both companies involved. 

    • Agree 4
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    A Horse With No Name
    6 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

    No. Sears and K-Mart actually merged to become a single company. 

    This is actually a smart move by VW and it works out for Ford.  It's a way to get around Trump Tariffs while also not committing billions to build another plant in the US. Ford gets some financial relief from the burden of running these plants.  I actually expect these types of arrangements to become more common. 

    Purely a speculative example based on no evidence, but Benz could contract with GM to build E-Classes in Hamtramck to get around the tariff. Or BMW using Lordstown to build 3-series.  It would help both companies involved. 

    Tesla should do this. GM knows much more about building cars than Tesla.

    • Agree 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Drew Dowdell
    5 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

    Tesla should do this. GM knows much more about building cars than Tesla.

    Tesla sorta did.  Their plant in California is the old Toyota-GM joint site called NUMMI and Telsa got (some) advice from Toyota on building electric cars. 

    • Agree 2
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    A Horse With No Name
    14 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

    Tesla sorta did.  Their plant in California is the old Toyota-GM joint site called NUMMI and Telsa got (some) advice from Toyota on building electric cars. 

    I know about that....was thinking that a Tesla-GM indirect partnership might pay off.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    ccap41
    Just now, A Horse With No Name said:

    I know about that....was thinking that a Tesla-GM indirect partnership might pay off.

    If it's only for a plant for production, yeah. If it's anything more, there's nothing in it for GM. Tesla's patents are all public. 

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Drew Dowdell
    Just now, ccap41 said:

    If it's only for a plant for production, yeah. If it's anything more, there's nothing in it for GM. Tesla's patents are all public. 

    If it kept the lights on at Hamtramck, GM might also be able to build something else there profitably. 

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    G. David Felt
    17 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

    Tesla sorta did.  Their plant in California is the old Toyota-GM joint site called NUMMI and Telsa got (some) advice from Toyota on building electric cars. 

    Clearly Musk did not listen as he still wanted to roboticize in a way not done by the OEMs. That really seems to have mucked him up.

    • Agree 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    ccap41
    1 minute ago, Drew Dowdell said:

    If it kept the lights on at Hamtramck, GM might also be able to build something else there profitably. 

    I'm all for keeping jobs around so if the theoretical "merger" were a thing, it would be great. Hopefully Tesla could take a few more notes on how to assemble vehicles before GM leaves them with the keys to the building. 

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Drew Dowdell
    Just now, ccap41 said:

    I'm all for keeping jobs around so if the theoretical "merger" were a thing, it would be great. Hopefully Tesla could take a few more notes on how to assemble vehicles before GM leaves them with the keys to the building. 

    I think you're confusing merger with a partnership.  Ford and VW would still be independent of each other, they would just share a workspace for assembling vehicles.  Like how Toyota and GM did with NUMMI (Corolla/Prism/Matrix/Vibe).  And Subaru and Toyota at Lafayette (Legacy / Camry)

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    ccap41
    1 minute ago, Drew Dowdell said:

    I think you're confusing merger with a partnership.  Ford and VW would still be independent of each other, they would just share a workspace for assembling vehicles.  Like how Toyota and GM did with NUMMI (Corolla/Prism/Matrix/Vibe).  And Subaru and Toyota at Lafayette (Legacy / Camry)

    Yes! I just couldn't think of the word, LOL ??‍♂️. That's why I quoted it because I knew it wouldn't be a merger(in theory). 

    Edited by ccap41
    • Haha 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    A Horse With No Name
    11 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

    If it kept the lights on at Hamtramck, GM might also be able to build something else there profitably. 

    Exactly. And it might keep Tesla profitable...they seem to have a lot of production issues.

    • Like 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    G. David Felt
    17 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

    Exactly. And it might keep Tesla profitable...they seem to have a lot of production issues.

    But ya know Musk is the smartest person in the room and it would be a cold day in hell before he would snuggle up to Barra to have a joint manufacturing where they actually built a consistent auto and quickly off the assembly line.

    • Agree 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    A Horse With No Name
    20 minutes ago, dfelt said:

    But ya know Musk is the smartest person in the room and it would be a cold day in hell before he would snuggle up to Barra to have a joint manufacturing where they actually built a consistent auto and quickly off the assembly line.

    A legend in his own mind, yes.

    • Haha 1
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites


    Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
    Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

    Guest
    Add a comment...

    ×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

      Only 75 emoji are allowed.

    ×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

    ×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

    ×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

    ×

  • google-news-icon.png



  • google-news-icon.png

  • Subscribe to Cheers & Gears

    Cheers and Gears Logo

    Since 2001 we've brought you real content and honest opinions, not AI-generated stuff with no feeling or opinions influenced by the manufacturers.

    Please consider subscribing. Subscriptions can be as little as $1.75 a month, and a paid subscription drops most ads.*
     

    You can view subscription options here.

    *a very limited number of ads contain special coupon deals for our members and will show

  • Similar Content

  • Posts

    • trinacriabob
      Airplanes

      By trinacriabob · Posted

      Interesting musical chairs I recently learned about. ITA Airways was recently acquired by Lufthansa. ITA, and preceding Alitalia, were in SkyTeam, headed up by Delta along with Air France and KLM.  ITA came across as an unwanted stepchild for the more fastidious French and Dutch.  SkyTeam is pricey, as are their award redemption tiers. With this transaction, ITA joins Star Alliance, headed up by United and with Lufthansa and Air Canada in the consortium.  I'm happy about this.  At least I am right now.
    • trinacriabob
      Random Thoughts Thread

      By trinacriabob · Posted

      I don't feel religion is bad.  I have one.  It's the dogmatic "holier than thou" crowd - usually older ladies who go to socialize and gossip - that drives people away. Ukraine has the right to exist peacefully the way we've known it to be for some 30 to 40 years.  The death toll is harrowing, and it's hard to think about the children, elderly, and invalids they've killed or maimed.  And these instigators claim to believe in God.  Not.
    • G. David Felt
      Random Thoughts Thread

      By G. David Felt · Posted

      Seems the crazy Stooges circus has begun. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/liz-cheney-referred-for-criminal-investigation/ar-AA1w2lHB?ocid=BingHp01&cvid=f2884bd4f8b34ba2f527fff1fded1ac6&ei=12 Crazy back n forth, I hope Ukraine can recover their land and kick Russia out. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/vladimir-putin-embarrassed-as-ukrainian-rout-causes-huge-russian-surrender/ar-AA1w0T5o?ocid=BingHp01&cvid=f2884bd4f8b34ba2f527fff1fded1ac6&ei=23 Next year is going to be one extremely large clown mess of attempted dictatorship wanna be attempts against our Constitution and I fear this is only the beginning as investment firms lock in profits and get out of companies, they do not feel can handle a downturn in a U.S. and or Global Economic recession. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/dow-suffers-worst-losing-streak-in-nearly-50-years-this-stock-is-driving-index-down/ar-AA1w2wlh?ocid=BingHp01&cvid=f2884bd4f8b34ba2f527fff1fded1ac6&ei=34 This will hurt the GOP as folks assess their view of Conservative with the GOP party. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/record-slim-house-majority-faces-new-problems-as-gop-lawmaker-announces-exit-from-republican-conference/ar-AA1w2e2V?ocid=BingHp01&cvid=f2884bd4f8b34ba2f527fff1fded1ac6&ei=47 Good to see our judicial system stand up to the snake oil salesmen who think they can get away with various crimes. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/judge-merchan-just-put-leash-on-trump-during-presidency-legal-analyst/ar-AA1w2qhi?ocid=BingHp01&cvid=f2884bd4f8b34ba2f527fff1fded1ac6&ei=67 This brings up a good question for all here, do you like Standard Time or Daylight Savings time? If you are like me and not wanting to deal with flipping back and forth on time twice a year, which time do you want? https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-says-he-ll-end-daylight-saving-time-here-are-the-winners-and-losers-if-he-does/ar-AA1w1Obc?ocid=BingHp01&cvid=f2884bd4f8b34ba2f527fff1fded1ac6&ei=78 So here is how states have voted to make one or the other permanent and do away with the flip back and forth. I do find it interesting that Ford is still filing patents on EV technology even though they have pulled back and have not really planned to move forward with 800v platform. Ford's Latest Patent Could Revolutionize EV Charging Crazy the lease deals you can get on an EV. As expected another ICE only, death to EV writer finally, actually got behind a wheel and found that the EVs are way better than ICE and even states that his next auto will be an EV now that he has actually driven one and tested it. Interesting read, his few dislikes is more of him needing to choose the display preference. I like mine in Dark mode, but the wife likes hers in light mode. So it is totally customizable. I drove an EV for the first time Have to say, I am hearing more and more from coworkers who were a never EV mind set, have actually test drove and ended up buying an EV. I think the tipping point is here where variety of EV choices are going to only make this more and more common. I suspect the Kia EV3 next year will be a huge deal for them as will the Chevrolet BOLT coming back into the market. Two SUVs that are below $30,000 will attract many new auto buyers.
    • G. David Felt
      Beautiful Cars Appreciation Thread

      By G. David Felt · Posted

      @oldshurst442 Thank you for the laugh, I needed it today. Much appreciated the post you did.
    • oldshurst442
      Beautiful Cars Appreciation Thread

      By oldshurst442 · Posted

  • Who's Online (See full list)

    • There are no registered users currently online

  • My Clubs

×
×
  • Create New...

Hey there, we noticed you're using an ad-blocker. We're a small site that is supported by ads or subscriptions. We rely on these to pay for server costs and vehicle reviews.  Please consider whitelisting us in your ad-blocker, or if you really like what you see, you can pick up one of our subscriptions for just $1.75 a month or $15 a year. It may not seem like a lot, but it goes a long way to help support real, honest content, that isn't generated by an AI bot.

See you out there.

Drew
Editor-in-Chief

I've whitelisted
Continue without support

Write what you are looking for and press enter or click the search icon to begin your search