Volkswagen CEO To Present New Strategy To Board

Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume is reportedly prepping to present a new software and platform strategy to the VW Group Board on Dec. 15 in an attempt to turn his predecessor's promises into deliverables.

Blume took over as VW Group CEO in September and has maintained his position as CEO of the Porsche brand that operates underneath the VW Group. Blume's predecessor in the role of VW Group CEO was Herbert Diess, a visionary who rebuilt the group after a diesel emissions scandal in 2015 and brought VW into the electric age.

Although Diess cleaned up the image of VW Group, he often clashed with labor representatives and was criticized for setbacks with VW Group's software arm Cariad.

When speaking about the decisions being made regarding software issues and plans left by Diess, a Reuters source said, "First up is the software and the reality check in that area. Then you have to transfer the software to the products. Both have to fit together...Things that were not decided over multiple years before are now being settled very quickly."

The sources explained that a new software platform was planned to have been installed across the VW Group fleet beginning in 2026, which will most likely be pushed back to the end of the decade. Another source indicated that 2028 would be a possible start for the implementation.

The software in question would allow for Level 4 autonomous driving and is called the 2.0 platform. Pushing back the platform launch would give Cariad enough time to perfect the software, as not all of the electric models have been updated. The 1.1 platform is in wider use at the moment and there are current models set to receive the 1.2 updates, such as the e-Macan and the Audi Q6 e-tron.

So far, it's not clear how much these delays will cost VW Group.

German newspaper Handelsblatt reported on Monday that keeping the software competitive compared to rival carmakers could potentially cost VW Group an estimated $1.1 billion by the end of the decade.