Volkswagen to Centralize Software Development in New Business Unit

   By Max Bernhard 
 

Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE) said Thursday that it would centralize software development in a new business unit as part of its effort to boost the share of car software made in-house.

The 'Car.Software organization' will bundle relevant associates and subsidiaries within the twelve brand car making group and will operate as an independent business unit, starting next year, Volkswagen said. Additionally, "the goal is to win skilled professionals from the Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Audi and Porsche brands for a transfer to the Car.Software organization," it added.

The organization will develop software for connected cars and devices, body and cockpit, automated driving, vehicle motion and energy and digital business and mobility services, Volkswagen said.

"The domains will cover the development work on one standard vehicle operating system 'vw.os' for all group vehicles and their connection to the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud, a standardized infotainment platform, all assistance systems including highly automated driving functions such as a motorway or parking garage pilot in cars for end customers, software functions for connecting the drive system, chassis and charging technology, and ecosystems for all of the brands' mobility services and digital business models," it added.

The new unit plans to invest more than 7 billion euros ($7.75 billion) in its tasks and projects by 2025. "Having a uniform software architecture will enable Volkswagen to generate sizable economies of scale in the group, substantially reducing per-vehicle software costs across all brands," it said.

Write to Max Bernhard at [e-mail]; @mxbernhard

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 21, 2019 05:26 ET (10:26 GMT)

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