By Kim Richters 



  Volkswagen AG said Thursday that its supervisory board has approved additional projects with fellow car manufacturer Ford Motor Co. 


  The German car maker said the companies are initially planning three projects related to electrification and commercial vehicles, including a midsize Ford pickup that will be adapted by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles for selected markets. 


  "The Volkswagen-Ford global alliance--which does not involve cross-ownership between the companies--is expected to create annual efficiencies for each company," it said. 


  "Through the cooperation, both manufacturers plan to realize significant synergy effects from shared development costs as well as production synergies." 


  Volkswagen said the final signing of the agreements was still pending but expected it to be "in the near future." 


  It expects additional collaborations like the investment in self-driving technology company Argo AI to follow. 


  Write to Kim Richters at kim.richters@wsj.com