Bill Ford Jr. said other automakers "could be" part of the tenant mix that makes up Ford Motor Co.'s in-the-works campus for autonomous and electric vehicles west of downtown Detroit.

The executive chairman of the Dearborn-based automaker made the remark Monday afternoon at the Crain's Detroit Business Newsmakers luncheon.

In response to a question from KC Crain, publisher of Crain's Detroit Business, on whether Volkswagen might be an eventual part of the Corktown mix, Ford said VW or other automakers would be welcome as part of the "ecosystem."

Earlier this year, Ford and VW announced that they will work together on commercial van and midsize truck production, Automotive News, sister publication to Crain's Detroit Business, reported last month.

"If they want to, sure," Ford said. "As you know, we've already announced a partnership with VW on a lot of things, and we are talking with VW about future things. We just haven't kind of crossed the finish line yet. Talks are going really well. So yeah, it could be them, or actually anybody that wanted to come down and be part of this ecosystem, we would love it."

Emails were sent to Ford Land Development Co., the automaker's real estate arm, as well as Wolfsburg, Germany-based VW.

In addition to working together on commercial vans and midsized trucks, the companies also have a "memorandum of understanding to work together on electric and self-driving vehicle technology," Reuters reported last month. However, the two companies disagree on how much VW is going to invest in Ford's self-driving vehicle division, Reuters reported.