Volkswagen says it's not in talks with Apple or Google about new 'digital mobility' businesses

Volkswagen is talking with external partners about launching so-called digital mobility businesses, but is not in any negotiations with either Apple or Google, the carmaker's CEO said on Thursday, pointing to a different direction for its self-driving car efforts.

Matthias Mueller nevertheless refused to name the actual companies Volkswagen actually is speaking with about its development efforts, according to Reuters.

Volkswagen's Digital:Lab, based in Berlin, is working on a "digital mobility platform" with the help of outside partners. The entity is also at work on "vehicle control center," able to pull data on weather, surroundings, and traffic from networked vehicles to generate hazard warnings. Effectively, it's laying the groundwork for self-driving technology.

Mueller's comments suggest however that Volkswagen won't be adopting Google's well-known self-driving platform — already in road testing — or working in any sort of partnership with Apple.

Apple is believed to be developing an electric car for launch in 2019 or 2020. Work on self-driving systems has been a part of that, though the first model may or may not ship with them.

While Apple is likely to need an outside partner to help manufacture a vehicle, it's expected to keep any software platforms involved to itself. Volkswagen will probably be limited to integrating CarPlay, Apple's bridge interface allowing people to control an iPhone through a combination of voice and dash commands.

13 Comments

SpamSandwich 32917 comments · 19 Years

About 8 years ago

If I were to guess, I'd say VW will partner with a Chinese entity or possibly the Chinese government to accelerate their self-driving car timeline.

MacPro 19838 comments · 18 Years

Perhaps an app to monitor emissions might be useful for VW? ;)

digitalclips said:

Perhaps an app to monitor emissions might be useful for VW? ;)

That applied only to certain diesel vehicles and it should be noted that Mitsubishi had been cheating these same emissions tests for 25 years. They are arguably going to be facing even bigger fines.

isteelers 738 comments · 12 Years

SpamSandwich said:

digitalclips said:

Perhaps an app to monitor emissions might be useful for VW? ;)

That applied only to certain diesel vehicles and it should be noted that Mitsubishi had been cheating these same emissions tests for 25 years. They are arguably going to be facing even bigger fines.

I thought Mitsubishi was cheating on their mileage not emissions, much like Hyundai was when they got busted a few years ago. I would think that anything to do with pollution would carry much bigger fines. Still, I enjoy my GTI more than any other car I have ever owned.