We’ve written about Volkswagen’s newfound focus on software — and struggles with that — several times recently. The short summary is: Volkswagen is trying to reinvent itself as a software-centered company. Software is hard.
Christian Senger is in charge of software development for Volkswagen. He confidently predicts the company is leading the way to a computer on wheels future. Is he right?
From a 2019 Volkswagen story about Volkswagen: “The new ‘Car.Software’ unit will be responsible for essential parts of software development for vehicles and cloud platforms in all brands and regions.” From someone at Volkswagen this week: “This is no longer a laugh. … The car is far from ready for the market. … It’s an absolute disaster. We just can’t get people.”
On January 1, Volkswagen will pull all its software development activities together under the umbrella of a new division called Car.Software. One goal is the creation of a dedicated operating system — vw.os — for all vehicles manufactured by Volkswagen Group.
