Volkswagen AG said on Tuesday it would put 5,000 digital experts into a new unit called “Car.Software” by 2025 as the German carmaker aims to develop at least 60% of its software in-house by then, up from less than 10% currently.

The company plans to create a uniform software platform offering all the basic functions for all vehicles throughout the Group. This will consist of the vehicle operating system “vw.os” and the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud. By 2025, all new VW models are to run on this software platform. The first vehicle based on this software platform will be the ID.3

Currently, up to 70 control units with operating software from 200 different suppliers need to be integrated in Volkswagen brand vehicles. In addition, there are different systems with similar functions within the VW Group, for example for infotainment and navigation. One uniform operating system with the same basic functions for all brands and the use of the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud for all Group models will considerably simplify the situation.

The same applies to the brands’ “digital ecosystems” which will be used for offering the services. All the brands need certain basic services, for example a simple search function for electric charging stations. At Volkswagen Passenger Cars, this service is called “We Charge”. For example, the basic functions “search for nearby stations” or “pay with different modes of payment” could be standardized for all brands.

With its standard software platform, Volkswagen is aiming to achieve significant economies of scale. In future, the vehicle fleet will include more than 10 million fully connected new vehicles per year, which will significantly reduce the cost of integrating the software in each individual vehicle. At the same time, digital ecosystems with a growing number of vehicles connected will become atractive for new partners and new customers.