Latest news with #PeterBosch
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
VW's troubled Cariad software unit has turned the corner, CEO Peter Bosch says
BERLIN — Volkswagen Group's troubled software division, Cariad, has put its problems behind it, CEO Peter Bosch told Automotive News Europe sister publication Automobilwoche. Bosch said the unit has entered a new phase of delivery and focus, marked by a string of key software launches and a break from past missteps. 'When you take on a task that everyone knows is difficult, you don't do it expecting constant applause,' Bosch said. 'But we delivered. The cars are here, costs have been significantly reduced, and we have broken new technological ground.' Cariad was launched in 2020 with ambitions to become the 'second SAP,' a multinational German software company, but it soon became a symbol of delay and dysfunction within VW Group. VW Group CEO Oliver Blume moved Bosch from his job as production chief at Bentley to Cariad, tasking him with fixing the division that was hit by overspending and delays in developing advanced software. Cariad's problems delayed the launches of Porsche's full-electric Macan and the Audi Q6 E-tron. A new software platform intended to enable Level 4 autonomous driving was pushed back to the end of the decade. Sign up for the Automotive News Europe Segment Analysis newsletter, a monthly in-depth look at a segment of the car market, including sales and market share data When Bosch arrived in summer 2023 from Bentley, Cariad's reputation was in tatters. Since then, Bosch, a former Oliver Wyman consultant, has led a broad reorganization. He realigned development processes with the group's brand structure, slashed costs and pushed for tighter control of code. His actions include ending over-reliance on external system suppliers. Bosch said the traditional outsourcing model does not work for modern automotive software. 'In software, with its fast development cycles, we have to work directly on the code,' he said. 'Our employees know, write, understand, and change the code — even via over-the-air updates.' VW's long-term goal is a fully software-defined vehicle architecture with centralized computing and proprietary code. 'We now do a lot ourselves, faster and more cost-effectively,' Bosch said. 'We must master the code.' Cariad contributed software to 14 models released in 2024. Bosch said that in April, nine of the 10 top-selling electric vehicles in Germany were VW Group models equipped with Cariad software. The company has overhauled its workforce structure, introduced agile delivery units and reduced management layers. Artificial intelligence tools were deployed throughout development, and insourcing has replaced expensive outsourcing in many areas. But Bosch is careful not to frame the turnaround as complete. 'Our current architectures are competitive, but they are still based on a supplier model,' he said. For the development of highly automated driving systems, Cariad is working with supplier Robert Bosch as a development partner. It is also working with VW Group's joint venture partner, EV startup Rivian, and VW's Carizon joint venture in China with Horizon Robotics. Also in China, Cariad is developing the Volkswagen China Technology Co. with domestic automaker Xpeng. 'Here, we have acquired a software license from Xpeng for the Chinese architecture, or CEA for short, but are now responsible for the code ourselves — with more than 10 million lines so far,' Bosch said. More than 500 Cariad employees in China are writing code tailored to local driving conditions and regulatory expectations. 'They know the culture and requirements inside out,' Bosch said. In North America and Europe, while some Cariad engineers have transferred to the joint venture with Rivian, Bosch said it's mainly staffed by Rivian personnel. 'The joint venture was founded by Rivian and the Volkswagen Group, not by Rivian and Cariad,' he said. Cariad now focuses on crossfunctional technologies such as cloud infrastructure, advanced driver-assist systems and infotainment, which Bosch said makes more sense for innovation and cost control. 'We are now significantly cheaper per vehicle in the cloud than the competition,' he said. The localization push extends beyond software: In China, development, design and production must all be local to meet consumer expectations and regulatory demands. 'The one-size-fits-all approach no longer works,' Bosch said. In Shanghai, for example, Cariad's advanced driver-assist system stack was tuned to maintain proximity to other vehicles in ways tailored to dense urban traffic. Despite those adaptations, Cariad remains focused on software sovereignty. 'It is important to us that we write the code ourselves and retain technological control,' Bosch said. As VW Group pursues modern, centralized architectures, Bosch said he envisions shorter development cycles and greater flexibility. 'This allows many systems to be networked more efficiently,' he said. 'We can bring functions into the car even faster, including some we don't even know about when we start development.' Cariad's evolution is occurring as legacy automakers, VW Group included, struggle with declining profits and sales, the threat of tariffs from the U.S., and Chinese automakers that continue to eat into market share in Europe and in China. In March, VW announced 1,600 Cariad workers would be laid off this year. Bosch said transformation requires restructuring and while roles such as creating specifications may be eliminated, more coders will be needed to replace them. Bosch said Cariad's central task is to ensure the software success of the entire company by creating economically viable solutions that benefit the group. Cariad's benchmark is the big picture — contributing to the software expertise and innovative strength of VW Group. 'We have financial goals — and we achieved them last year,' he said. 'The more vehicles on the road with Cariad software, the more revenue we generate.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Euronews
14-03-2025
- Business
- Euronews
How can the EU respond to its skilled labour shortage?
To remain competitive, the European Union needs a skilled workforce. A shortage of this is therefore a problem, and the Commission and the European Parliament have recently renewed efforts to tackle it. "Four in five businesses struggle to find the workers that they need with the right skill set. There are more than 40 occupations with EU wide shortages, especially in important sectors like construction, trades, transport and some healthcare professions", Roxana Mînzatu, European Commission Vice-President responsible for social rights, skills and quality employment, told the European Parliament in Strasbourg. This shortage of skilled labour is due to problems of supply and demand and a mismatch between the qualifications of workers and the needs of employers, as Ilias Livanos, an expert on skills and the labour market at the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), told Euronews: "There could be pressures because of the demand. And clearly for the ICT professions, given that they keep developing so rapidly, we don't really know what the demand will be in 5 or 10 years. So how we can prepare for this specific knowledge ? And clearly the systems, education systems are not prepared for this." This shortage is likely to get worse because of demographic factors and the digital and ecological transitions. "Firstly, demographics. The EU is going to lose 1 million workers every year until 2050," Peter Bosch, senior research associate at the Egmont Institute, told Euronews. "Secondly, there is a rapid change in the type of skills that will be needed because of robotisation, because of artificial intelligence, because of what is happening in different sectors," he explained, adding: "The third reason is Europe's economic recovery, with many Member States and the European Union making large amounts of money available." The European rearmament plan proposed by the European Commission, which contains a €800 billion budget, and the massive investment plan in defence and infrastructure presented by the likely future German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will require recruitment in many sectors, according to Peter Bosch. The education system, but also companies, have important roles to play here, as, after all: "The skill system has no single owner". While the formal education system has an important part to play in developing skills, continuing training is also "the responsibility of individuals and employers," according to Livanos. The EU's new roadmap has set the course: On 5 March, the European executive launched a new initiative - the Skills Union - to boost training and therefore European competitiveness. This approach is based on four pillars. It recommends investing in education and training, promoting professional retraining, encouraging the mobility of students and workers, and making the EU more attractive to foreign workers. In concrete terms, the Commission wants to launch "skills guarantees", for example, to "help companies hire or train people at risk of losing their jobs", Roxana Mînzatu expained. Another flagship project called "Choose Europe" aims to attract skilled workers from third countries to the EU. The European executive also wants to support visas for foreign students, strengthen the skills pact to support the upgrading and retraining of workers, and make the 'Erasmus+' exchange programme more accessible. But the EU is not the only one in the race, warns Peter Bosch. "The European Union is going to need people, but so will China and India and Arab countries, and Arab countries are offering huge salaries for people to come to work in their countries," says the researcher. The European Union is waking up, but it needs to do so very quickly. The Trump administration has threatened to permanently end federal funding to Columbia University, unless the New York institution hands over control of one of its international studies departments. The ultimatum comes a week after the US government announced that it was pulling $400m (€367m) in federal funding from the university — and reviewing $5bn (€4.6bn) in additional grants — over its perceived failure to root out antisemitism on campus. In a letter sent by the federal authorities on Thursday night, Columbia was warned that talks on its financial future would only take place if it places its Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies Department under 'academic receivership for a minimum of five years'. Before any 'formal negotiations' can be held, the Ivy League institution must also take other actions, including adopting 'a new definition of antisemitism' and reforming its admissions process, it added. 'We expect your immediate compliance with these critical next steps,' officials from the Department of Education, General Services Administration and Department of Health and Human Services wrote. The development is a dramatic escalation in US President Donald Trump's attempts to reshape how universities across the country operate. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has targeted Columbia over the pro-Palestinian student protests that took place there last year. Over the weekend, Mahmoud Khalil, who graduated from the university in December with a Master's in international studies, was arrested in New York over his role as a student spokesperson during the protests. He is currently being held at a detention centre in Louisiana. Khalil's lawyers argue that it is unconstitutional for the US government to deport activists, something Trump and his officials have vowed to do. Responding to the government's actions against Columbia, Joseph Howley, a classics professor at the institution, said: 'Half of this stuff you can't just do and the other half is insane.' 'If the federal government can show up and demand a university department be shut down or restructured, then we don't have universities in this country,' he added. On Thursday, Columbia announced that it had sanctioned students over the pro-Palestinian protests, which involved the occupation of Hamilton Hall last spring. It said in a statement that punishments included 'multi-year suspensions, temporary degree revocations and expulsions'. In a separate development, the Education Department said it was investigating more than 50 US universities over alleged racial discrimination.
