Volkswagen AG and Ford Motor Co. confirmed on Friday they will collaborate on electric vehicles and invest billions of dollars in Argo AI, a Pittsburgh-based autonomous vehicle technology platform company.
Argo AI’s self-driving system is the first with commercial deployment plans for Europe and the United States. Through the partnership with Volkswagen and Ford, Argo AI’s platform has the largest geographic deployment potential of any autonomous driving technology to date, the companies said in a joint statement.
As part of the transaction, Volkswagen will commit $1 billion in funding and will contribute its $1.6 billion Autonomous Intelligent Driving (AID) company, which includes more than 200 employees. Ford will invest the remaining $600 million of its previously announced $1 billion cash commitment in Argo AI. The full transaction represents a more than $7 billion valuation for Argo AI.
“Argo AI is fortunate to have a world-class team due to our clear mission and the commitment to deployment from our partners, and together with AID employees, we will have a global workforce to attract even more of the best talent,” said Argo AI CEO Bryan Salesky. “Plus, thanks to Ford and Volkswagen, Argo AI technology could one day reach nearly every market in North America and Europe, applied across multiple brands and to a multitude of vehicle architectures.”
Argo AI plans to work closely with the automakers to provide the autonomous vehicle technology they need to create self-driving vehicles that can be manufactured at scale for safe and reliable deployment in ride sharing and goods delivery services.
Ford and Volkswagen will have an equal stake in Argo AI, and combined, Volkswagen and Ford will own a substantial majority. The remainder will be used as an incentive pool for Argo AI employees.
Based in Munich, Germany, AID will become Argo AI´s new European headquarters.
“While Ford and Volkswagen remain independent and fiercely competitive in the marketplace, teaming up and working with Argo AI on this important technology allows us to deliver unmatched capability, scale and geographic reach,” Ford President and CEO Jim Hackett said.