VW to Launch Software Unit in January

Volkswagen AG will formally launch its Car.Software business as an independent unit on Jan. 1.

Plans for the group were announced in June. By 2025, VW aims to invest €7 billion ($7.7 billion) in Car.Software and grow the organization to 10,000 people.

Initially, about 3,000 digital experts from VW’s various brands and divisions will be transferred into Car.Software. VW says it still needs to work out the details with labor unions.

Based at the Audi Electronics Venture GmbH site in Gaimersheim, Car.Software will be housed at existing VW facilities throughout Germany. The new group also will operate locations in Beijing and Seattle.

The integrated team aims to create a single operating system (vw.os) for all new VW Group models. One of the group’s goals is to hike the proportion of software development VW performs in-house to more than 60% by 2025 from less than 10% today. Currently, as many 70 control units with operating software from 200 different suppliers are used in VW-badged vehicles.

The organization will develop cross-brand software in five domains: automated driving, connected car & device platform, intelligent body & cockpit, vehicle motion & energy, and digital business & mobility services.