#Innovation

The Volkswagen Group brand Elli (Charging and Energy) is taking its Energy business unit to the next level by now offering energy trading as a service to external customers.

At this year’s IAA MOBILITY, the Volkswagen brand is underlining its claim to offer mobility for everyone: VW is presenting four new models at the freely accessible event area in Munich city center.

The Volkswagen brand has reached a significant milestone in its transformation to electromobility. In the presence of the Minister President of Lower Saxony Olaf Lies, the 1.5 millionth vehicle worldwide from the all-electric ID. family was today handed over to a customer at the Volkswagen plant in Emden. The anniversary vehicle is a black ID.7 Tourer Pro, which raises the bar in its class with a range of up to 606 kilometers.

A change is taking place among the shareholder representatives on the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft. Marianne Heiß has stepped down with effect from July 4, 2025. She is to be succeeded by Susanne Wiegand with effect from July 5, 2025. This change was announced by the company in Wolfsburg on Friday.

The Volkswagen Group has been named the most innovative automotive group in the world by the Center of Automotive Management (CAM) with the 2025 AutomotiveINNOVATIONS Award. This award, presented annually since 2011 by CAM in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, evaluates the technological and innovation strength of international automotive manufacturers and suppliers. Among the 30 companies analyzed globally, the Volkswagen Group achieved the highest score in the main category of innovation strength – ahead of competitors from China and Europe. CAM also recognized Volkswagen Passenger Cars as the most innovative volume brand and Audi as the most innovative premium brand.

The new Volkswagen Tayron achieved first-class results in the latest Euro NCAP test and received the highest rating of five stars. The result underlines the outstanding safety equipment of the new model and, at the same time, the high standards of Volkswagen. Under the guiding principle of “Safety for All”, Volkswagen has been continuously working on innovations for decades to further increase road safety – in all vehicle segments, for all road users and for all relevant accident scenarios.

China continues to lead the way in the transition to electric mobility. At 2025 Auto Shanghai, Audi is showcasing the models that will bring the company to the forefront of this trend locally and globally, while also remaining a strong player in the market for combustion-engine vehicles. The lineup displayed by Audi and its two local partners FAW and SAIC consists of 19 models. Among them are the Audi A5L, the A5L Sportback, the Q5L, and the A6L e-tron as well as the AUDI E5 Sportback.

The Volkswagen Group is systematically expanding its local technology competence in China as part of its ongoing commitment to the “In China, for China” strategy. At Auto Shanghai, Volkswagen will debut its first proprietary AI-powered, highly automated driving system. Specially developed for China's complex traffic environments, the system is self-learning and engineered for both seamless and extremely safe driving experiences. Through an efficient System-on-Chip (SoC) with high computing power, it enables smooth, rapid responses to a wide range of driving scenarios. The group will present a Volkswagen-brand model with this technology in China before the end of this year. Starting next year, it will also be integrated into models based on the China-specific Compact Main Platform (CMP), marking it accessible to price-sensitive compact segment customers.

The “In China, for China” strategy of the Volkswagen brand is taking on visible form: At this year’s Auto Shanghai (April 23 to May 2), one of the world’s most important motor shows, VW’s three Chinese joint ventures will present electric concept cars. The spotlight is on an electric notchback model from FAW-Volkswagen, an electric SUV in the B segment with extended range due to range-extender technology (EREV) from SAIC VOLKSWAGEN as well as an all-electric SUV from Volkswagen Anhui. All three concept cars embody Volkswagen’s new China DNA – both in terms of technology and design and in relation to development time, which has been cut by more than 30 percent.

A world first at Böllinger Höfe: Audi is using a virtual programmable logic controller from Siemens on the Edge Cloud 4 Production (EC4P) platform in the body shop. The TÜV-certified network of virtual programmable logic controllers works with a security function specially developed by Siemens.

Volkswagen Group is working with Valeo and Mobileye to upgrade the advanced driver assistance systems up to Level 2+ ('enhanced partially automated driving') in its upcoming vehicle portfolio based on the MQB platform. Launching in the next few years, this cooperation will improve safety and driving comfort in high-volume vehicles, addressing both customer expectations and regulatory requirements.

Since 1 January, the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VWCV) plant in Hanover has been supplied exclusively with electricity from renewable sources. Climate-friendly energy supply is an important lever for reducing carbon emissions and conserving resources. By 2040, all Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles production sites will produce in a climate-neutral manner.

The Volkswagen Group aims to further increase traffic safety for all road users. The Group brands plan to use sensor and, more recently, image data from customer vehicles in road traffic to continuously optimize driver assistance systems and automated driving functions. Customers will benefit from the improvements through software updates in the vehicle. The continuously improved driving functions enhance driving comfort and contribute positively to overall traffic safety. High-quality data from real traffic situations are central to this continuous optimization of powerful assistance systems. The basic prerequisite for their processing is customer consent, and all data protection regulations are observed. The Volkswagen Group aims to start this initiative in Germany from the fourth quarter of 2024, initially with models from the Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Audi brands. Other Group brands plan to gradually join the initiative and prepare their product portfolios accordingly.