Volkswagen relies on autonomous driving

  "May the other automakers still grapple with the transformation to electromobility - Volkswagen is already one step further. This is probably how history should go in Wolfsburg: "New Auto" is the strategy with which Europe's largest vehicle group intends to embark on the coming years. In fact, electrification is also included in what CEO Herbert Diess describes this Tuesday as the "even more radical change": autonomous driving, in which the driver becomes the passenger. On the basis of software, the transition is "to significantly safer, more intelligent and, finally, autonomous vehicles, "says Diess. And says:" The car has a bright future! "Even if it will be a completely different car. 

Everything will be based on a uniform operating system that will largely be developed in-house and that will be installed in all vehicles of all Group brands from the middle of the decade: whether Audi, Skoda, Seat, VW or Porsche - all vehicles should then be at the so-called level 4. That means: the car still has pedals and a steering wheel, but ideally it should drive largely on its own. At least on most of the world's highways by 2030, says Diess. 

His software people are even more confident: even city trips should be possible with robots in the foreseeable future. Whereby this is a challenge of different sizes. It's easy in rectangular street patterns, as you can find them in the USA or the young metropolises of China. But it is foreseeable that Volkswagen will also drive in European cities. Hamburg is leading the way, where tests are to begin in a district in 2023 and then work its way forward street by street. In 2025, the buses are scheduled to run under the name Moia in regular operation. The future of the automobile is therefore a kind of urban warfare, especially in the cities that have grown. 

And, they hope at the VW Group, the easier it will be, the more data can be collected: Tesla currently has one million vehicles on the road, Diess currently considers the US company to be technologically superior and one of the toughest competitors his entire group. But they want to catch up by 2030 - thanks to the sheer mass: up to 40 million vehicles across all group brands will then be based on the group’s software platforms, including the ears and eyes that are also installed. Laser cameras or radar systems, for example. 

The car owners should benefit from the digital driver, who can book the amenities for certain journeys if necessary. But with its new strategy, VW is also making a turn towards mobility services. Diess had previously valued the area little, but the autonomous driving skills could change everything, believes his team. By the end of the decade, the company will "develop system capabilities for autonomous shuttle fleets," and want to own some of the shared taxis and sell others. Mobility as a service is said to be "an integral part" of the company and can be "highly profitable" - also because the digital driver can possibly be sold to other manufacturers. 

"The computer will drive much safer than humans," says Diess - but it's all about business: VW sees the value for customers above all in the elimination of human drivers. A one-time investment instead of regular wages. This is a countermovement to the German premium competitors BMW and Daimler, who are currently talking little about Level 4 and are currently concentrating more on the car itself and reducing sharing offers."