Best years ahead for VW: Muller

Volkswagen will put the #Dieselgate crisis behind it this year and look to the future by opening three new 'VW Group Future Centers' in Europe, Asia and the US.

That was the message delivered by Volkswagen Group CEO Matthias Müller on the eve of the Geneva motor show, where the company unveiled a model from each of its 10 car brands.

Speaking to 400 journalists (a fraction of the number normally invited) at a subdued version of the traditional VW Group night ahead of the Swiss show, Muller said "the best times are ahead" for the German car-making giant.

He said VW made the decision just days ago to merge design and digitalistion into the new cornerstone of its business, which would only succeed: "if, at the same time, we learn from past mistakes".

"2016 is the year when we intend to solve the problem with our diesel engines for our customers, and when we realign the group for the future. We are tackling this twofold task with the necessary respect, but also in the firm conviction that the group and its brands can and will emerge from this difficult phase even stronger,” Muller said.

"We will not be paralysed by the crisis. Quite the opposite, we must use it to leapfrog the next technical innovations.”

Muller said the Dieselgate emissions recall campaign had started in Europe as scheduled, and that VW will present a substantial report on the status of the process in near future. As in Europe, the first VWs to be recalled locally will be Amaroks, followed by Passats.

"Our customers are at the very heart of this campaign. We can and will make sure their workshop visit is as effective as possible. We know the public doesn't have much patience but it is best to let the external investigators do their job as well as they can," Muller said.

Volkswagen says the merging of design and digitalisation at three new 'future centres' in California, Germany and China would fast-track its plans to become the world leader in autonomous vehicles.

It has committed to releasing self-driving vehicles by 2025, starting with a range of cars offering an increasing level of autonomy, connected technology and sustainable drivetrains to that future “customers, society and industry can benefit”.

As part of its plan to add 20 more electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrids by 2020 (up from nine currently), VW's new future centres will help design and develop digital software from the ground up for EVs.

Muller said EVs will offer a driving range of 500km by the end of the decade, and that charging will only take as long “as a coffee break”.

"And in the long term, an electric car will cost less than a car with an internal combustion engine," he said.

Volkswagen stresses that a concerted effort is needed by industry and government to establish comprehensive charging infrastructure and that, in the meantime, EVs will coexist with conventional cars.

"Our experts have developed fascinating technologies: from three to 16-cylinder engines, from natural gas to efficient diesel drives. And here, too, we can and will get even better," Muller said.

The new VW boss said the merging of digitalisation with design at its future centres would bring core technology to market faster than the competition and open up new fields of business and sales potential.

"We are realigning our Group Design for the digital era," said Muller.

"Digital transformation is very high on the agenda for the Volkswagen Group."

VW’s Head of Digital Transformation, Johann Jungwirth told motoring.com.au that autonomous cars from the VW Group will become reality by 2020 and "common" by 2025.

Jungwirth comes to VW well credentialed – he was poached from Apple late last year.

"Autonomous cars will revolutionise cities, going from crowded to empty by 2025 as cars park outside the city limits," Jungwirth said, adding that driverless cars can save 1.25 million lives annually since “91 per cent of fatalities are due to human error”.

"Robots don't drink, get tired or make mistakes," Muller commented in his address. He added: autonomous technology will give time back to people because the average person spends 37,668 hours of their life driving a car.

Jungwirth's mission is to make Volkswagen Group vehicles best in class in terms of customer experience, interface design, operating logic, new interior concepts, and infotainment/entertainment.

The move follows the appointment of Michael Mauer as Head of Group Design this January and VW's Potsdam studio in Germany has already begun working under the new concept. VW says it will announce locations for the Californian and Chinese studios soon.

Jungwirth said that in future, fleet of self-driving electric cars would park outside cities and transport commuters when required. He said this would clear parked cars from streets and potentially turn inner-city carparks into green spaces.

He also said that the level of autonomy could differ from [VW] brand to brand, with cars like Porsches still offering full driver control.

"I'm not speaking for all 12 brands in general," he said.

"Each of the brands is working out the strategy that best fits them. But it's very important when you think about full autonomy you can actually create an autonomous driving experience that is really awesome.

"So let's take a Porsche for example that has the option of driving autonomously. That Porsche will have a really dynamic driving experience.

"Each brand will look for the best solution for them. Some brands will look for mobility in demand for cities and premium brands could use this in top luxury cars with the option of autonomy."

Jungwirth said autonomous cars would become reality by 2020 and that "by 2025 it will be in more than just three or four cities".

He insisted that the complex question of artificial intelligence in self-driving cars, which could have to make decisions about death or injury minimisations in unavoidable collisions, could be overcome.

"You don't let the machine make those sort of decisions. It learns from experience to try to avoid the crash altogether. It will learn very, very quickly and it will be a much better driver than the average driver.

"These autonomous cars are like super humans. They have all the knowledge from all the cars on the road. Everything that every single car learns is given to every car in the fleet almost in real time."

Jungwirth admitted that eliminating the road toll was not possible without banning older or non-autonomous cars, but said every self-driving car would make roads safer.

"If you want to get rid of all 91 per cent of the 1.25 million [annual road deaths] that would be true," he said.

"But we need to do everything possible and minimise that number. I can imagine there will be cities for example with areas like green zones today where you can only drive fully electric, where the fleet will be fully autonomous in order to save all deaths.

"Each city will decide. The goal is zero deaths and all companies should work towards that, but we'll have to see how close we get to that," Jungwirth stated.