Anyone who played auto quartet as a child could win with high horsepower or high speeds.

With electromobility and digitalization this is shifting. Will software really soon be more important than motorization?

Carsten Germis

Business correspondent in Hamburg.

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    Brandstätter: Of course, what the engine can do and how long the range of the batteries is, is also important for the electric car. In the future, however, software will become a decisive competitive factor. For customers in the future, it will be the most important element of how they experience our cars. The digital experience in our vehicles, the software, will be decisive for the purchase decision, from the quality of the driver assistance functions to connectivity and infotainment. We are seeing the same trend everywhere - in Europe, Asia and America.

    Hilgenberg: That is why we have bundled the brands' software expertise at group level for the first time in our own software organization, CARIAD, for the Volkswagen Group.

    This is a first logical step in the development of the connected car.

    What each brand has done for itself in the past, CARIAD is developing for all brands of the Volkswagen Group.

    The model is based on the model of the construction platforms that the group has been successfully running for years - where VW, Audi, Seat and Škoda build their cars on shared platforms.

    We create a uniform architecture for the software in the group and scale it for as many vehicles as possible.

    This is our recipe for being competitive in the future when it comes to software.

    That means: Volkswagen is actually CARIAD when it comes to software?

    Hilgenberg: It's a common task within the group. The interface to the customer will remain with the brands in the future. You stage the software functionality individually, VW as well as Škoda, Porsche or Audi. CARIAD has to ensure that the adaptation remains possible across all vehicle classes and brands in the group.

    Brandstätter: I would describe it as a highly integrative collaboration.

    CARIAD develops the basis, the software architecture.

    We take care of the integration into the vehicle and thus define the digital customer experience.

    A good example is navigation.

    So far, every brand has developed this from scratch.

    This basis now defines the new software unit in the group.

    Volkswagen designs how the navigation system is integrated and how customers should experience it.

    It's hand-in-hand work.

    It is not the case that VW orders a piece of software and delivers CARIAD.

    Isn't such an integration difficult?

    Several brands and one corporate unit ultimately work on the same project.

    Hilgenberg: It's sure to be an epic journey. No other car company has made this conversion into a software-driven company as stringent, as big as Volkswagen. I have a lot of respect for the task, but there is no alternative for the group. It shows in the daily provision of services, where we still have to sharpen our structures. We are building a new software organization here, from 1700 employees on day 1 at the beginning of July 2020 to 4500 people as of today. At the same time, we ensure that Mr. Brandstätter is supplied with software for his networked ID. Electric models, and we develop future technologies - scalable functions for the entire group. That is a great deal of change that we are driving forward with a clear plan. The time dimension is not our friend.We have to act quickly because we are on a chase to catch up and are shortening the distance to our competitors.

    Brandstätter: That is only possible in a partnership. We saw what a feat it was to get the software on the road with the ID.3. But we have improved quickly and significantly. Despite the new structures, the same people worked on this - the only difference being that some are now at CARIAD, others continue to work at Volkswagen.