VW and Microsoft partner
- October 2, 2018
- Posted by: Simon Wait
- Category: Industry News
Volkswagen and Microsoft Corp are entering into a partnership.
The Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG approved the conclusion of an agreement to this effect between Volkswagen and Microsoft on September 28, 2018.
Volkswagen therefore continues to forge ahead with its digital transformation at full speed. With Microsoft as its strategic partner, the company is taking a decisive step in its digital transformation into a mobility provider with a fully connected vehicle fleet and the digital ecosystem ‘Volkswagen We’.
‘The strategic partnership with Microsoft will turbocharge our digital transformation,’ said Dr. Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen AG. ‘Volkswagen, as one of the world’s largest automakers, and Microsoft, with its unique technological expertise, are outstandingly well-matched. Together, we will play a key role in shaping the future of auto-mobility.’
From 2020 onwards, more than five million new Volkswagen brand vehicles per year will be fully connected and will be part of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the cloud. The partnership between the two companies will lay the foundation for combining the global cloud expertise of Microsoft with the experience of Volkswagen as an automaker.
Together, the two companies will develop the technological basis for an industrial automotive cloud. In the future, all in-car services for vehicles of the Volkswagen brand as well as the Group- wide cloud-based platform will be built on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform and services as well as Azure IoT Edge.
As part of the new entity, Volkswagen will establish a new automotive cloud development office in North America near Microsoft’s headquarters. Microsoft will provide hands-on support to Volkswagen as it ramps up its new automotive cloud development office, including resources to help drive hiring, human resources management and consulting services. The workforce is expected to grow to about 300 engineers in the near future.
