Under mounting cost pressure, Ford and Renault are huddling together: in October 2025 they announced that, starting in 2028, two small, affordable Ford-badged battery-electric passenger cars will be built at Renault’s ElectriCity plant in northern France on the Ampere platform, while joint development of light-commercial vehicles is also being explored.

Ford fills its European small-car EV gap and saves years of R&D time and money; Renault secures steady orders to amortise its soaring EV costs and reinforce its continental position. Both century-old giants are bleeding—Renault posted an H1 net loss of €11.1 billion and Ford’s EU market share has slid to just 3.3% as it prepares to cut 4,000 European jobs by 2027—so sharing platforms and expenses offers mutual rescue and a “collaborate-to-cut-costs” template for legacy automakers worldwide.

Ford CEO Jim Farley (left), Renault Group CEO Francoise Savorgnan (right)