01Volkswagen Group showcases its first self-developed autonomous driving system in China
Volkswagen Group is systematically enhancing its local technological capabilities in China to further advance its strategy of “In China, for China.” At the Shanghai Auto Show, the company will showcase its first self-developed, AI-based highly autonomous driving system. This advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), developed specifically for China’s complex traffic conditions, features self-learning capabilities and focuses on achieving extremely natural and particularly safe driving behavior.
With an efficient high-performance system-on-chip (SoC), it can respond smoothly and quickly to various driving situations. Volkswagen Group will also launch a Volkswagen brand model equipped with this technology in China this year. Starting next year, this technology will also be applied to models built on the “Compact Modular Platform” (CMP) developed for China. At that time, this system will also be available to price-sensitive compact car customers.
This research achievement marks an important milestone in Volkswagen Group’s development of its core technology capabilities, which are highly favored by Chinese customers. Currently, one-quarter of newly registered vehicles in the Chinese market are equipped with level 2 autonomous driving systems suitable for highway scenarios. It is expected that by 2030, level 2+ autonomous driving systems will be applied in over 80% of vehicles in operation. Meanwhile, level 2++ autonomous driving systems, capable of covering both highway and urban traffic scenarios, are expected to be equipped in 75% of new cars by then.
In this context, Volkswagen Group established CARIZON in November 2023 within the framework of its “In China, for China” strategy. This joint venture is a collaboration between Volkswagen Group’s software developer CARIAD and Chinese technology company Horizon Robotics. The joint venture focuses on developing the most advanced autonomous driving systems for the Chinese market. Over the past 18 months, more than 500 software experts have driven the development of new advanced driver assistance system technologies at offices in Beijing and Shanghai.
Ralf Brandstätter, member of the management board of Volkswagen Group and CEO of Volkswagen Group (China), stated: “Our new advanced driver assistance system demonstrates the results we can achieve when we effectively combine Volkswagen’s strengths with local innovation. This technology has been developed at ‘China speed’ and fully meets the needs of our Chinese customers, especially in terms of driving behavior, safety, and quality, making it a significant market highlight. The rapid progress in the development of this system highlights the capabilities of our joint venture CARIZON and the execution of our ‘In China, for China’ strategy.”
02AI-based data platform “GAIA” enables rapid development cycles
This system transforms smart connected vehicles into forward-looking vehicles with natural driving behavior, capable of avoiding dangerous situations before they occur. The key is “GAIA,” CARIZON’s proprietary AI-based data platform for intelligent data collection and analysis. With each vehicle collecting 2 terabytes of data daily and completing over 100,000 kilometers of testing mileage each day, “GAIA” can perform highly automated AI training on vehicle software.
Compared to traditional data platforms that do not utilize AI-based big data technology, “GAIA” analyzes data approximately six times faster and reduces the testing cycle for AI solutions to one-twentieth of the previous duration.
As a result, CARIZON can generate and validate hundreds of thousands of real driving scenarios with extraordinary speed and accuracy. This accelerates the development cycle, reduces costs, and ensures particularly natural and safe driving behavior.
Marcus Hafkemeyer, CEO of CARIZON, stated: “With a team of 500 local advanced driver assistance system experts and deep integration of AI in the development process, we have built an advanced advanced driver assistance system in a very short time that will excel in driving behavior and safety. This year, we will launch the level 2+ advanced driver assistance system. The level 2++ advanced driver assistance system, equipped with urban navigation assistance features, is currently in advanced practical testing and will be launched in 2026. This also lays the technical foundation for the system’s rapid upgrade to level 3 autonomous driving capabilities.”
03Shanghai Auto Show: Volkswagen Group showcases the latest generation of smart electric vehicles for the Chinese market
Volkswagen Group is accelerating its transformation process by firmly implementing its “In China, for China” strategy. As a result, the company has strengthened its local R&D capabilities in electric vehicles, digitalization, and smart driving, while also speeding up decision-making and R&D processes in the region. This enables the company to quickly respond to dominant trends in the Chinese market and fully leverage market growth momentum and innovation vitality.
In this regard, the Shanghai Auto Show is an important milestone. The company showcased the new generation of smart electric vehicles from Audi and Volkswagen brands for the first time, specifically developed for Chinese customers in China.
By 2027, Volkswagen Group plans to launch more than 20 fully electric and electrified models (new energy vehicles) within a broad product offensive framework. By 2030, the group’s brands will offer approximately 30 fully electric models.