Why Ford chose Renault over Volkswagen for small EVs

Renault’s coup in landing Ford as a customer for the small EV platform underpinning the 5 is all the more impressive given Ford’s already deep relationship with the Volkswagen Group on EVs.

Ford currently builds the Explorer and Capri electric compact SUVs on the German company’s MEB EV platform at its plant in Cologne, Germany, and the two maintain broader co-operation on vans.

So when Ford went looking for a platform for an electric replacement for the Fiesta supermini, the obvious choice would have been Volkswagen’s new truncated, front-wheel-drive MEB Plus.