Volkswagen (VW), the leading European manufacturer, has formed an alliance with Bosch, the world’s leading automotive supplier, in autonomous driving. The partnership, announced Tuesday, January 25, may surprise when you know how much the relationship between manufacturers and subcontractors are coded in Germany, the former traditionally having preeminence over the latter. But the world of the automobile has changed: the strategic part of the vehicle no longer lies solely in the engine and driving comfort, but in the software and the control of data, as well as in the connections between the two worlds. In the great technological battle of autonomous driving, the giant VW has realized the obvious: given the competition and the current technological tempo, it does not make the weight on its own.
Bosch and VW, through its Cariad subsidiary founded in June 2020, which specializes in software, have therefore announced that they will have 1,000 computer engineers working together to make autonomous driving accessible to as many people as possible. The first fruits of this alliance must be put on the market very soon: from 2023, the new functions installed in vehicles will allow the driver to take their hands off the wheel temporarily in certain situations, i.e. level 2 of autonomous driving. The platform will serve as a basis for gradually increasing the vehicle’s degree of autonomy to level 3, allowing the software to take full control of the vehicle on the highway. Level 4 (complete autonomous driving) is targeted.
For the first time, the two industrial groups will collaborate ” equals “ to develop a common system on advanced, highly sensitive technology. This redefinition of roles marks a break. The days when major equipment manufacturers sold manufacturers systems or parts that might be integrated into their vehicles seem to be over. Nestings are now too complex.
The jointly developed product will be used in all private vehicle categories of the VW Group brands. But Bosch obviously reserves the right to pass it on to other customers. “All elements of the cooperation can be integrated into the vehicles and ecosystems of other automakers,” said the joint statement issued on Tuesday.
Assets pooled to catch up
The two groups insisted on their complementarity on multiple levels. Bosch made its digital shift well before Volkswagen, and already has proven know-how in electronic sensors, big data management and artificial intelligence, i.e. the analysis of data collected on the road. VW has one of the largest vehicle fleets in the world. It therefore has a major source of data, and a lever allowing the technology developed to quickly impose itself on the market.
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