Volkswagen is going all-in on autonomous driving with the creation of a new subsidiary

With up to 4 centres located in Germany, the United States and China, Volkswagen Autonomy GmbH will be the subsidiary in charge of developing future autonomous cars
The future of the automotive industry is moving towards automated driving. As the different levels of autonomous driving have taken shape, brands have been including and offering various aids or assistants that enable automated functions.

Although consumer trust in autonomous cars does not enjoy особой popularity, nor does there seem to be a particular interest in this type of vehicle, automotive giants, companies and suppliers are working hand in hand to implement control levels for driving activity in cars as soon as possible.

In addition to pooling efforts, Volkswagen and Ford have signed collaboration agreements on the study, development and application of the technology as far as levels of autonomous driving are concerned.

Indeed, the Volkswagen Group has announced an ambitious plan that spans the period from 2019 to 2021 for the establishment of four work centres, in three different countries and continents.

The objectives of Volkswagen Autonomy GmbH

Volkswagen Autonomy GmbH, the name by which the subsidiary responsible for the Group’s activities in developing level 4 autonomous driving systems will be known, will open two centres in Germany this year, in the cities of Munich and Wolfsburg, another in Silicon Valley, in the state of California, United States, in 2020, and finally another in China in 2021.

Thus, the objectives of the entity known as VWAT (Volkswagen Autonomy GmbH) will be fundamentally threefold:

• To create a robust autonomous driving system (ADS)
• To provide maximum safety for systems from level 4 autonomous driving onwards
• To reduce accident rates and fatalities in road traffic accidents

All advances and applications achieved by VWAT will be applied across all brands of the Volkswagen Group.

The first level 4 autonomous vehicles

Although no timeframes have been given for when the first products developed directly from VWAT’s work will be available in vehicles for sale, it has been specified that the sector they will initially be aimed at is commercial.

The first level 4 ADS vehicles resulting from VWAT will be robo-taxis and robo-vans manufactured in collaboration with Ford.

According to the agreement cited at the beginning of this text, signed earlier this year, 2019, for European markets, Ford will be responsible for shaping and manufacturing large commercial vehicles, while Volkswagen will be responsible for designing and manufacturing an urban van.