Ford and Volkswagen deepen their EV collaboration with the launch of a second electric vehicle for the European market.

• Ford Motor has announced that Volkswagen will supply the EV architecture for a second Ford model for the European market, expanding their electric-vehicle collaboration.
• Ford has increased its electric vehicle production plans by double, with a target of 1.2 million vehicles using Volkswagen's platform, starting in 2023.
• In 2019, Ford and Volkswagen revealed a comprehensive partnership concerning electric and self-driving vehicles.

Ford is expanding its collaboration with to supply the EV architecture for a second European model.

Ford announced that it will produce 1.2 million electric vehicles using Volkswagen's platform over six years, starting in 2023, which is double its previous production plans.

Earlier on Monday, Ford unveiled a broader plan for electric vehicles in Europe, which included the news.

VW's components business head, Thomas Schmall, stated that profitability and speed are now vital for achieving the breakthrough of e-mobility in Europe. He added that Ford and VW are working together to address both challenges.

In 2019, Ford and Volkswagen announced a collaboration on electric and autonomous vehicles. Since then, their partnership has expanded to include joint efforts on internal-combustion commercial vehicles and a $2.6 billion investment by Volkswagen in Argo AI, a Ford-backed self-driving startup based in Pittsburgh.

Recently, collaborations between global automakers at a deep level have become more common as they face the challenges of transitioning to zero-emissions vehicles with increased automation.

Honda and General Motors have a partnership in which Honda invested in GM's self-driving subsidiary, Cruise, and committed to using GM's electric-vehicle technology in two upcoming Honda models for the U.S. market. Despite collaborating on hydrogen fuel cells since 2013 and setting up a joint venture to mass-produce fuel cells in Michigan, Honda last year stepped away from a longer-term plan to use GM's EV architecture and said that it will develop its own for new models coming later this decade.

Ford's first electric vehicle to utilize Volkswagen's architecture will be a crossover SUV, set to launch next year. No information about the second planned model has been disclosed by Ford yet.

In Cologne, Germany, Ford's manufacturing complex will house both the original and rewritten versions.