Volkswagen to Invest in Ford's Self-Driving Car Unit -- Update
July 11 2019 - 8:59PM
Dow Jones News
By Mike Colias
Volkswagen AG has agreed to invest around $2.6 billion in Ford
Motor Co.'s autonomous-vehicle partner, Argo AI, in a deal that
values the startup at $7 billion, according to people familiar with
the matter.
Ford has been the majority shareholder of Pittsburgh-based Argo
since early 2017, when it agreed to invest $1 billion.
Under the agreement with Volkswagen, to be announced Friday,
Argo would develop autonomous-driving technology for VW and
eventually supply systems for commercial use, while continuing its
development work with Ford, the people said.
The $2.6 billion investment in Argo includes $1 billion in
capital funding as well as the value of VW's 200-person
autonomous-driving division in Munich, which the companies placed
at $1.6 billion. That group, called Autonomous Intelligent Driving,
is run by VW's Audi luxury-car unit and will form the foundation of
Argo's presence in Europe, the people said.
Major auto makers have been consolidating efforts as they race
to develop driverless and electric cars, and build business models
around them.
VW and Ford scheduled a news conference Friday morning to
provide details of further cooperation between the German and U.S.
auto makers. Earlier this year, the two companies agreed to jointly
develop and build commercial vans and trucks. They also are
expected to outline plans to work together to develop electric
vehicles.
Ford and VW began talks last year that led to the January deal
to work together on vans and trucks for markets around the world.
The idea to work together on electric and self-driving technology
grew from those earlier talks. Both sides have said they aren't
interested in any cross-ownership deals with each other.
Write to Mike Colias at Mike.Colias@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 11, 2019 20:44 ET (00:44 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Volkswagen (TG:VOW)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Volkswagen (TG:VOW)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024