Like most other major automotive groups, Volkswagen is currently putting the package on electric cars and the development of new technologies such as autonomous driving. But the Germans have to deal with some internal problems: after the departure of Herbert Diess a few months ago and the arrival of Oliver Blume at the head of the Wolfsburg giant, the new boss has to deal with projects below expectations for now.
To optimize the group’s finances, the development of the brand new SSP platform designed for consumer electric cars would have been postponed for at least two years, Volkswagen ultimately preferring develop the current MEB platform and make it last a little longer. As for the projects Trinity et Artemis, aiming to design models with a revolutionary approach within the Volkswagen and Audi brands, they too would be delayed due to disappointing research and progress for these projects. A release date was initially mentioned in 2024 for the Audi and before 2026 for the Volkswagen, but the decision was made to shift them in order to focus first on other priorities, such as the development of new software systems.
Level 4 autonomous driving will wait
In 2021, Audi wanted to design an electric car as quickly as possible with a level 4 autonomous driving system, allowing to go very far in driving automation. But it will finally be necessary to wait at least until the end of the decade to arrive at an approval of these systems, without a precise date of placing on the market according to the journalists ofAutomotive News. This level 4 autonomous driving already exists at Mercedes but for now it can only be used in one place in the world (a specially equipped car park at Stuttgart airport).