VW forms driverless subsidiary

Volkswagen (VW) has formed an autonomy subsidiary in the German cities of Munich and Wolfsburg with the aim of developing a self-driving system (SDS). The company says Volkswagen Autonomy (VWAT) is to work with Argo AI to establish an SDS as a standard module for all group brands in the future. In July, VW agreed to collaborate more closely in autonomy with Ford which includes a stake in Argo AI. As part of the deal, VWAT will collaborate with VW Commercial Vehicles to integrate the SDS into purpose-buil
November 15, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

Volkswagen (VW) has formed an autonomy subsidiary in the German cities of Munich and Wolfsburg with the aim of developing a self-driving system (SDS).

The company says Volkswagen Autonomy (VWAT) is to work with Argo AI to establish an SDS as a standard module for all group brands in the future.

In July, VW agreed to collaborate more closely in autonomy with Ford which includes a stake in Argo AI.

As part of the deal, VWAT will collaborate with VW Commercial Vehicles to integrate the SDS into purpose-built robo-taxis and robo-vans.

VW’s senior vice president for autonomous driving Alexander Hitzinger will manage VWAT, which will be responsible for all activities related to autonomous driving from SAE Level 4.

"We will continue to use synergies across all group brands to reduce the cost of self-driving vehicles, high-performance computers and sensors. We plan to start commercialising autonomous driving at a large scale around the middle of the next decade,” he says.

Looking ahead, the company intends to establish two additional subsidiaries to support the development of the SDS in Silicon Valley and China.

Related Content

  • IBTTA Summit: satellite tolling is the future
    August 15, 2019
    IBTTA members met in Florida to consider the technological changes that will impact their businesses – including satellite tolling. Colin Sowman reports from Orlando Over decades, the technology employed in toll collection has been honed to near perfection – automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are easily within a couple of per cent of infallibility even at highway speeds. However, technical innovations beyond the confines of the toll road cannot b
    Read More
  • Daimler’s double take sees machine vision move in-vehicle
    December 13, 2013
    Jason Barnes looks at Daimler’s Intelligent Drive programme to consider how machine vision has advanced the state of the art of vision-based in-vehicle systems. Traditionally, radar was the in-vehicle Driver Assistance System (DAS) technology of choice, particularly for applications such as adaptive cruise control and pre-crash warning generation. Although vision-based technology has made greater inroads more recently, it is not a case of ‘one sensor wins’. Radar and vision are complementary and redundancy
    Read More
  • BlackBerry’s Jeff Davis: ‘Hands off 5.9GHz!’
    September 25, 2019
    As a US Marine, BlackBerry’s Jeff Davis saw the world’s trouble spots. But much of his attention is now focused on what he sees as the ITS sector’s biggest issue: cybersecurity. Adam Hill finds out more Oh, I often feel I’m the dumbest guy in the room,” laughs Jeff Davis, senior director, connected transportation, at BlackBerry. It’s hard to credit this. Davis has a range of experience that sets him apart from most people in the ITS sector. He was in the US Marine Corps, with seven tours of duty, inclu
    Read More
  • Pivot Power: 'We need to rethink the EV customer experience'
    October 10, 2018
    Electric vehicles will increasingly become a key part of the mobility mix but charging infrastructure is currently patchy. Adam Hill talks to Matt Allen of Pivot Power about disruption, horses, slot machines – and the importance of customer experience. Electric vehicles (EVs) – including buses, taxis and cars for individual and shared use – are already a common sight on our roads. They are not yet ubiquitous. But that will come. There will be around 30 million electric cars in the world by 2030 (as they
    Read More

Highlighted Content