Production of the ID.3 in Zwickau
The expansion of software development is one of the strategic focuses of CEO Herbert Diess.
Wolfsburg, Ingolstadt The software unit of Volkswagen is ready to start after months of preparation: The development of its own digital platform for all brands in the Group is scheduled to begin on July 1st. This forms the core of an auto operating system that is to be fully developed by 2024. VW wants to control the “complete vehicle architecture” including electronics itself, as digital director Christian Senger said on Friday.
But you remain open to partnerships, joint ventures or investments. The new group unit plans to spend more than seven billion euros in the coming years.
There are inquiries from outside, said Senger. “But what we don’t want is that everyone can bring and implement their own thing. We determine the architecture. ”The platform itself will be a development of its own experts.
The increasing importance of software makes the industry more dependent on the IT giants – many companies are therefore trying to expand their expertise and increase the number of specialist staff accordingly. According to previous plans, the “Car.Software” organization at VW should include over 10,000 experts by 2025, and by the end of the current year there could be 5,000 employees.
The aim is to program more systems in-house and thus increase the added value. The proportion is expected to grow from less than 10 to more than 60 percent.
One has “the 100 percent conviction” to want to do as much as possible, says Senger. Where appropriate, partners could be added. Meanwhile, the demands placed on technology suppliers rose. Volkswagen relies on “a self-defined architecture with clear interfaces that makes regionally different modules possible”.
The company’s own operating system “VW.OS” is aimed at in the expansion stage with full functionality of the central computer architecture for 2024. It is about “a system that is scalable from small cars to premium sedans”. Senger estimates that not all car manufacturers will soon have their own developments: “In future there will probably be fewer operating systems for cars worldwide than there are car manufacturers.” There is great competition in the industry for the necessary experts.
VW employs several thousand of its own IT specialists from participations and brands. In addition, there should be personnel from new hires or company takeovers. The expansion of software development is one of the strategic focuses of CEO Herbert Diess.
However, it had recently become clear that many of the new systems had an unprecedented level of complexity. With the electric car ID.3 there is an initially somewhat slimmed down range of functions, it happened with the Golf 8 to delays in production.
The aim is to create a “digital ecosystem” in which data is exchanged between customers’ smartphones or tablets, applications in the car, manufacturers, dealers and other service providers. VW also integrates cloud storage and cooperates with Microsoft. Other car companies also put a lot of money into networking – not least with a view to the development of autonomous driving.
More: Attack on Tesla and Google: Daimler, VW and BMW develop their own operating systems