In 1986, Argentine and Brazilian subsidiaries of Volkswagen and Ford formed the Autolatina joint venture, leading to a series of badge engineered cars. The Verona was the first model to be rebranded during the alliance and its sibling was the Volkswagen Apollo, released in 1990. The alliance also allowed Ford to have access to more powerful engines, better suited to the segment it would compete, since one of the most common complaints in the Ford Del Rey it would replace was its poor performance.