Volkswagen Zooms Ahead in Extension of Alliance with Ford to Electric, Automated Cars

Ford Motor Co (F.N) and Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) said they will spend billions of dollars to jointly develop electric and self-driving vehicles, deepening a global alliance to slash development and manufacturing costs while positioning VW as the initial winner.

How soon those investments will pay for themselves is an open question across the global auto industry.

Ford and VW executives said the latest collaborations could save hundreds of millions of dollars for each company.  But the projects would take time to develop, and the size and timing of the payoffs were unclear.

The latest iteration of the Ford-VW alliance suggests the German automaker may hold the more lucrative cards - for now.

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