It is questionable what will remain of the technological visions in the Audi Gransphere if it goes into series production.
(Photo: Audi AG)
The German automakers know how to make an impression at auto shows. For example Audi: At the IAA in Munich last year, the VW subsidiary presented the “Grandsphere” study. A spectacular concept car. Thanks to Level 4 autonomy, the steering wheel can be retracted, infotainment content is projected in the interior, and the whole thing can be operated with the eyes.
Sometime after 2025, the car could go into series production. Until then, however, there should not be much left of the technologically impressive vision. Because in the end it’s all about the profit margin per vehicle. This means that an attempt is made to save as much as possible on every vehicle part. That’s not wrong. However, this savings craze apparently does not stop at such important things as hardware and software.
The best example of this is the ID series from Volkswagen. The electric cars have slow software because savings were made on the hardware. When VW boss Herbert Diess – now responsible for VW’s own software company Cariad – now promises progress in the software, then that seems a bit like an admission of guilt. Because when it was decided to install such weak hardware in the ID series, he was responsible for both the VW brand and the China business.
At BMW and Mercedes, too, the software seems outdated compared to the functionality of today’s smartphones. It shows that the strategists of traditional car manufacturers lacked an understanding of the importance of software in cars. The focus is still on drive and driving characteristics.
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>> Read here: For German car manufacturers, the golden days in China are over
Now the car manufacturers are saying that they have underestimated the high technical demands of Chinese customers and are making improvements. But in Europe, too, customers are attaching increasing importance to good electronics and intelligent software.
Electronics are playing an increasingly important role
According to the “Home Electronics Market Index” (Hemix) of the market research institute GfK, the average expenditure per smartphone in Germany rose by more than ten percent last year. Customers were willing to pay almost 30 percent more for video consoles.
For the German auto industry, this means that the software problems are threatening to boomerang. Tesla is just the beginning. At the latest when the first Chinese electric cars with superior software come to Europe, the technological backwardness of the proud German car industry will be relentlessly exposed. Unless Audi promises more than just visions at auto shows.
More: Bosch aims to help make automated driving suitable for the mass market. For Volkswagen it is a paradigm shift in working with suppliers