Despite a report that Volkswagen plans to invest $1.7 billion in Ford’s autonomous vehicle partner, a person close to the negotiations tells the Free Press that the talks continue with no specific numbers on the horizon.

“Both parties are still at the table and will be for months before a deal is reached, if a deal is reached at all,” said a person who is involved with the meetings but not authorized to comment publicly.

Volkswagen and Ford Motor Co. have been talking since mid-2018 about collaboration, and in January 2019 announced an alliance to build light commercial vehicles and midsize pickup trucks. In addition, the carmakers have signed an agreement to keep talking about an additional partnership on costly driverless and electric vehicles.

The Wall Street Journal reported with a Berlin dateline this week that VW “is investing” in Argo, a self-driving vehicle company that has Ford as its only customer and majority shareholder.

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“After months of talks, the German and U.S. carmakers have agreed to make Ford’s autonomous-driving unit Argo the nucleus of an equally held joint venture that could receive additional assets from Volkswagen over time,” the Journal reported.

Leaks about the talks have consistently emerged from Europe, with different reports indicating both that agreement is near and that the companies are far apart.

Mark Clothier, a spokesman for Volkswagen based in Virginia, declined to comment on the talks, saying the German automaker doesn’t weigh in on speculation.

Jennifer Flake, a spokeswoman for Ford based in Dearborn, said, “Our talks with Volkswagen continue. Discussions have been productive across a number of areas. We’ll share updates as details become more firm.”

Ford CEO Jim Hackett told the Free Press this month that he is enthusiastic about teaming with the largest carmaker in the world.

The discussion is about cost containment in a changing world.

China, the largest car market, and California, with too many consumers to ignore, are pivoting by government directive away from internal combustion engines toward battery-operated vehicles.

At the moment, talks suggest Volkswagen and Ford would split investment in the Pittsburgh-based company that develops robotics and artificial intelligence for self-driving vehicles. Argo was founded in 2016 by a computer engineer from Carnegie Mellon University.

“Under the structure as currently envisaged, Volkswagen would provide nearly $600 million as an equity investment in Ford’s Argo venture, about half of what Ford initially sought from its future partner,” the Journal reported. “Volkswagen will provide around $1.1 billion in working capital for the venture’s research and development, the people added. The two companies will both own half of the entity.”

Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-222-6512 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid