Ford Motor Co. of the United States and Volkswagen AG of Germany signed an agreement on Wednesday to expand their global cooperation on the development of midsize pickup trucks as well as commercial and electric vehicles, the carmakers announced on Wednesday, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

The partnership includes the development of a medium pickup truck engineered and built by Ford and sold by Volkswagen starting in 2022, as well as of other commercial vehicles in order to increase the number of models the two companies offer.

"In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on the global economy, more than ever it is vital to set up resilient alliances between strong companies," said Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess. The collaboration would reduce development costs and allow a "broader global distribution of electric and commercial vehicles."

By 2023, Ford would build a new electric vehicle for the European market which would be based on Volkswagen's Modular Electric Drive (MEB) toolkit. According to the companies, more than 600,000 units could be produced by Ford in such a way over the years.

Ford's use of Volkswagen's MEB architecture in Europe would be a "cornerstone in Volkswagen's electric vehicle strategy and further efforts by both companies to fulfill their commitments to the Paris 2015 Agreement," the companies stated