The German carmaker Volkswagen is teaming up with another partner to jointly develop special microchips for networking in new car models. The software division Cariad announced on Wednesday that the company plans to co-design its own vehicle electronics with the semiconductor manufacturer ST Microelectronics (STM). The main focus here is on processors and systems with which control units and complex control tasks are to be more closely interlinked.
VW had announced its own initiatives in chip design, but initially wants to develop the hardware together with industry experts. VW also has Bosch and the US chip group Qualcomm as partners.
departure from the familiar
The cooperation with STM partly means a departure from the previous way of buying chips. VW wants to start sourcing important components not only from traditional automotive suppliers, but directly from electronics suppliers. “We are actively shaping our entire semiconductor supply chain,” said Purchasing Director Murat Aksel. “We ensure that exactly the chips that we need for our cars are produced and secure a supply of microchips that are in demand years in advance.” The supply crisis for semiconductors had also torn large holes in VW production.
Up to 100 individual control units are currently used in more highly equipped cars. The goal is standardization in order to create technical standards and save production costs.
slowed down
Coordination problems among the group brands and delays in software development had recently slowed Cariad down. Until the completion of a uniform platform, the work at Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche is temporarily running in parallel. Cariad boss Dirk Hilgenberg considers the cooperation with STM to be important in this context: “The use of a uniform, optimally adapted architecture in all control units gives us an enormous boost for the efficient development of our software platform.”