Highlights:

  • Volkswagen Group’s Car.Software and Microsoft will develop an Automated Driving Platform for the agile development of automated driving functions.
  • With Volkswagen Automotive Cloud, the AD (automated driving) functions could be tested, operated, and deployed.
  • Using a cloud-based platform, Car.Software will simplify its development processes on Microsoft Azure to get AD solutions to the Group’s cars even faster.

Autonomous Driving Technology

Volkswagen AG, an owner of brands such as Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini, and Audi, recently publicized that it will be collaborating with Microsoft to enhance its Automated Driving Platform (ADP).

Aim to develop autonomous vehicles!

Volkswagen aims to develop its fully autonomous functionality and driver assistance features for its vehicles and brands. Hence, the automaker will be using Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing services to streamline its software development efforts for self-driving cars.

Car.Software (Car.SW Org.) to use Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform

Car.Software by Volkswagen will be taking full benefits of a partnership with the US tech giant – Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform to ease the enhancement of self-driving vehicles/autonomous vehicles at a global scale. With Automated Driving Platform running on Azure, Car.Software will enhance the efficacy of the development of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and automated driving (AD) functions for passenger cars across Volkswagen Group brands.

Since 2018, Volkswagen and Microsoft have been tactical partners on the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud, working on all of Volkswagen’s future digital services and mobility offerings.

What experts’ think

Dirk Hilgenberg, Chief Executive Officer Car.SW Org. at Volkswagen, commented: “As we transform Volkswagen Group into a digital mobility provider, we are looking to increase the efficiency of our software development continuously. We are building the Automated Driving Platform with Microsoft to simplify our developers’ work through one scalable and data-based engineering environment. By combining our comprehensive expertise in the development of connected driving solutions with Microsoft’s cloud and software engineering know-how, we will accelerate the delivery of safe and comfortable mobility services.”

Scott Guthrie, Executive Vice President, Cloud and AI Group at Microsoft, commented: “This is the next evolution of our foundational work with the Volkswagen Group to enhance their transformation as a software-driven mobility provider.” He further added, “The power of Microsoft Azure and its compute, data and AI capabilities will enable Volkswagen to deliver secure and reliable automated driving solutions to their customers faster.”

Takeaway – mobility services

This partnership will lead to more vehicles receiving regular over-the-air updates and will enhance the organization’s transformation as a software-powered mobility provider. Additionally, partnering with Microsoft will help Volkswagen boost its Automated Driving Platform’s overall performance and keep it up to pace with Toyota, Ford, and Tesla.

Volkswagen and Microsoft intend to invest about EUR 27 billion in a digitalization effort to boost in-house software development.

Bonus tip

Volkswagen is just the most recent automaker to sign a new deal with a tech partner. Toyota recently partnered with Aurora to develop self-driving cars, General Motors and Cruise also teamed up with Microsoft for cloud computing, and Ford is anticipated to run its vehicles using Android from 2023.

Volkswagen’s new vehicles will be served using Microsoft’s cloud servers worldwide and will offer over-the-air updates. Moreover, both companies intend to allow technology partners to develop tools and services that integrate with the platform to improve the creation of ADAS and AD solutions.