Volkswagen (VWAGY.US) and Bosch are accelerating their advancement of autonomous driving technology

Zhitong Finance APP learned that Volkswagen (VWAGY. US) said Tuesday that its Cariad software division will work with auto parts supplier Germany's Bosch Group to introduce autonomous driving capabilities starting in 2023, allowing drivers to temporarily drive off-the-beaten-track. At the peak of the partnership, the two companies expect more than 1,000 employees to participate in the development.

The agreement prompted two giants of the German automotive industry to join forces to develop autonomous driving technology that could reshape the transportation industry in the future, but the specifics are extremely complex and the research and development costs are very high.

Cariad CEO Dirk Hilgenberg said in a statement: "Autonomous driving is key to the future of our industry. Through our cooperation, we will strengthen Germany's reputation for innovation. ”

Arno Antlitz, VW Chief Financial Officer, said: "The cooperation between Bosch and VW is an important step in developing new areas and generating revenue. "The software components developed by the two companies can also be used in the vehicles and ecosystems of other automakers in the future."

Giants are scrambling to lay out autonomous driving

Mercedes-Benz, owned by another German car giant Daimler, received regulatory support last year and will be able to deploy a hands-off system in Germany that can be used for L3 level autonomous driving, one level higher than Tesla's L2 level autopilot system.

At the same time, the competition in the industry is also becoming increasingly fierce, and large technology companies are also stepping up their efforts to layout, GPU giant NVDA. US), and Intel (INTC. US) owns Mobileye, Alphabet (GOOG. US) own Waymo LLC is ramping up efforts to develop autonomous driving technology.

According to media reports, Volkswagen and Bosch's development projects involve the use of sensors and AI technologies to collect and analyze real-time traffic data, which will contribute to the software development process, with the goal of introducing L2 and L3 off-hand driving systems in urban environments and highways. The two companies said they are also reviewing joint goals and specific timelines for L4 fully autonomous driving.

Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess expects that autonomous driving will trigger a more dramatic industry disruption than moving to electric vehicles. It is understood that Volkswagen had planned to set aside about 89 billion euros (about $101 billion) for electric vehicle and software development over the next five years last month, and invested $2.6 billion in Argo AI in 2020. Argo AI is a Pittsburgh-based self-driving startup, and F.US has also invested in the company.

Including BMW YY. Executives, including US) CEO Oliver Zipse, recently said they would be willing to collaborate more and share the cost of the basic software framework because there is little difference between brands. However, the German automotive industry does not seem to be going well in this cooperation, and in 2019, Daimler and BMW announced that they would establish a long-term partnership in autonomous driving technology, but parted ways in less than a year.