Volkswagen sees how quickly Chinese car brands such as BYD are moving and wants to participate. The development time of new models is shortened from 54 to 36 months. The Volkswagen ID.2 is such a quickie.
Volkswagen sees the opportunities and risks of the Chinese car industry. Thanks to a collaboration with Xpeng the Germans can expand their model range more quickly, but Volkswagen wants/must do even more to keep up with fast-moving competitors such as BYD. Like no longer working for 54 months on the development of a new model...
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Autocar spoke with Kai Grunitz, Volkswagen's technical boss, during the IAA in Munich. He says that the Volkswagen ID.2 one of three pilot models with a development time of 36 months. That is 18 months faster than what is usual at VW.
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“You see with Chinese competition that it is possible,” Grunitz said about the shorter development time. “We have concrete ideas on how we can do this.” Namely by saving time in several areas. By using new simulation tools, but also by not testing in the freezing cold for two or three winters, but only one winter.
Grunitz calls the lightning-fast BYD the textbook example of a car brand that builds high-quality cars in a short time. “They have a real platform strategy, low costs, a very good battery and are building good factories worldwide.”
He obviously wants to prevent the software problems of the current Golf and the ID.3. Both models were developed in the standard time of 54 months. “The question is how we can provide quality with fewer test cycles. One way is not to start from scratch every time, but to take 70 to 80 percent from the previous model and add 20 percent to give the car new functions.”
This certainly does not apply to the Volkswagen ID.2, because it is a completely new model. It stands on its own version of the MEB platform and has front-wheel drive rather than rear-wheel drive. And yet it is developed in 36 months. Now we are extra curious about the end result. The ID.2 will be released in 2025.
This post was last modified on September 12, 2023 2:14 pm
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