Expectations belied: Investors jilted over Volkswagen-Ford marriage

The much-anticipated alliance announcement by Volkswagen AG and Ford Motor Co. left investors feeling let down as it lacked a big-bucks plan to join forces on electric vehicles and self-driving cars.

Wall Street was hoping for a blockbuster deal, such as the billions of dollars General Motors Co. landed for its self-driving unit from Honda and SoftBank Vision Fund last year. There also was some belief Ford would tap into VW’s massive electric-vehicle development program, so the companies could jointly take on Tesla Inc.’s dominance of that segment.

Instead, VW and Ford merely said they’re committed to exploring those areas,