Dusseldorf In the future, Google applications could run in Volkswagen Group cars. This was revealed by the Cariad software unit before the presentation of a new VW app store. Apps from Google are not yet in the list when the store starts. “But integration is possible,” said Cariad software manager Dirk Hilgenberg in the run-up to the presentation.
You are in constant contact with the Californians. The project is also confirmed in the VW Group. “The process is ongoing and will be decided for each brand,” says a manager at top level. With a view to the positioning of the vehicles in the market, however, one must proceed “very decisively”, not least with a view to data sovereignty. At the opening for Google last week, premium manufacturer Mercedes presented.
The App Store creates the framework for integrating Google applications. Presenting the app store at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Hilgenberg said: “We will take the in-car experience to the next level by seamlessly integrating the digital world of Volkswagen Group customers into the car.”
The first brand to integrate the store in several models is Audi. The platform will be available in Europe, North America and overseas markets in the A4, A5, Q5, A6, A7, A8, Q8 e-tron and e-tron GT models from July. After that, other brands would follow successively, announced Cariad.
In addition to apps from the individual VW brands, the store also offers access to content from other providers with whom the group cooperates. At the start, 34 programs from third-party companies should be compatible with VW’s new app interface, including the social media platform Tiktok, but also music streaming services such as Spotify or Amazon Music.
From Mercedes to Volvo: This is how other car manufacturers are already using Google
Google has been pushing into the cockpits of the automotive industry for some time, but German manufacturers have been pursuing their own software approaches for years. With its app store, for which Cariad is working together with the Samsung subsidiary Harman, Volkswagen is creating the basis for what its competitors are already doing. A number of car brands such as Volvo, Polestar and Renault use complete infotainment systems from the Californian tech group.
“Knowing what Google offers to the industry.”
(Photo: Volkswagen)
Tesla uses Google for on-screen maps, but not for navigation. Mercedes, in turn, wants to use Google Maps to embed the maps in its own operating system under its own logo and also to use it for navigation. The Swabians promised that control of customer data would remain with Mercedes.
>> Read also: Mercedes relies on Google Maps and YouTube
VW is currently still using software from the Dutch company Tomtom for navigation. However, one knows “what Google offers to the industry as a white label solution,” said Hilgenberg. With these solutions, the provider’s brand recedes into the background in favor of the customer. “Our approach is to create an open ecosystem to meet the various desires of VW’s brands.”
Porsche in talks about deep Google integration
An integration of Google in the VW cockpits should therefore depend heavily on the needs of the brands. It had already become public in January that the sports car manufacturer Porsche could allow Google apps into its infotainment systems.
Company sources are now saying that Porsche may even be looking to integrate Google Automotive Services (GAS), a collection of Google applications and services that automakers can license and integrate into their in-vehicle infotainment systems. An integration of GAS is considered the most invasive form of Google cooperation in the industry – especially with regard to data sovereignty.
A Porsche spokeswoman did not want to comment on the status of the negotiations when asked and referred to an earlier statement that “Porsche is primarily based on the wishes of its customers”. They wanted to “take the familiar digital world of Apple or Google seamlessly into the car”. According to Porsche, the basis and “technological backbone” is always the software platform developed by Cariad.
So far, this backbone in the VW Group has been based on the open-source operating system Android Automotive (AAOS), which gives manufacturers a lot of freedom in designing their car software – even though Android belongs to Google. Unlike technical solutions in which a mobile phone is connected to the car and mirrored, AAOS-based operating systems are permanently installed and can be used independently of your own mobile phone.
VW boss Oliver Blume: “I’m faster with proven partners”
For VW, any further opening up to Google is a gradual departure from old corporate beliefs. For a long time, Wolfsburg was categorically opposed to working with the US group. The fear of losing control of the data was too great.
Under ex-boss Herbert Diess, the group initially relied entirely on its own software development. His successor Oliver Blume, who also manages Porsche, relies more on cooperation when it comes to software issues.
Shortly after taking office, Blume said: “I am open to partnerships. We don’t want to and can’t do everything ourselves. If there are good solutions on the market, then I don’t have to develop them again myself, but am faster with a proven partner.”
Cariad boss Hilgenberg emphasizes that the data issue is crucial for all forms of integration. One wants to maintain “access to our customers and data security”. “That’s why some conversations take longer than others – and that’s a good thing.” Cariad allows third-party providers to use the app store after approval by the customer to read out data that is necessary for the respective app in order to give the customer the expected to provide service.
>> Read also: This is how Oliver Blume wants to get VW’s software chaos under control
Against this background, it initially seems surprising that VW has approved the Tiktok app in the App Store. The short video app belongs to the Chinese group Bytedance. Data protectionists see the app as a gateway for espionage. Several government employees in Brussels and Berlin have therefore already been banned from installing the app on company cell phones. US authorities must stop using Tiktok within 30 days.
VW’s software unit then explains: The app can only be used by customers to view content, but not to produce it themselves. “No vehicle data is shared with the app either,” says a spokesman.
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