Sustainable mobility, connectivity and automated driving
Mobility is a prerequisite for economic growth. But while the need to always be mobile is rising, natural resources are dwindling. This calls for holistic mobility concepts to minimize the environmental impact. Such solutions need to be efficient, sustainable, customer-oriented and accessible anytime and anywhere.
We are researching and developing such pioneering concepts and solutions in our Group-wide alliance. In shaping the future of mobility, we are looking not only at the automobile but at all modes of transport and transport infrastructures, at people’s mobility habits and at other relevant factors. Innovations such as digital connectivity and automated driving allow for completely new problem-solving approaches. We strive to utilize these in order to play our part in a comprehensive mobility system in the future and to help shape our industry’s transformation.
Another initiative of our future program TOGETHER – Strategy 2025 focuses on establishing a cross-brand mobility solutions business. Our mobility business MOIA is to become one of the leading providers of innovative transport services and will develop profitable and globally scalable business models. Strategic investments and partnerships are also being sought. Our strategic goal is to make Volkswagen one of the world’s leading providers of efficient and convenient smart mobility services by 2025, with a portfolio encompassing all brands and both “mobility as a service” and “vehicle on demand” services.
On the road to autonomous driving, the Volkswagen Group further improved its assistance systems and automated driving functions in 2018 and fitted them in vehicles. The strategic objective is to market highly automated driving functions for private vehicles, shared mobility systems and commercial mobility providers as a core competency of the Group. The Volkswagen Group has introduced its vision of an autonomous mobility system in the form of the Sedric family, comprising fully autonomous vehicles for short- and long-distance mobility, as well as sports cars, self-driving delivery vehicles and heavy trucks. In both, cities and rural areas, these vehicles will enable new forms of mobility – particularly for user groups that have so far been excluded from access to mobility.
Autonomous driving in complex urban environments places especially heavy demands on technology. We are dedicated to meeting these challenges. Our Autonomous Intelligent Driving GmbH is working on developing a Group-wide system for self-driving vehicles.
Given the growing number of digital and software-based vehicle-related components, customer satisfaction with these elements is becoming increasingly important. The goal of a Group initiative is therefore to make Volkswagen one of the best companies worldwide in terms of user experience. Close collaboration among our Group brands in this area provides the basis for this.