Life's Good at Volkswagen

South Korea’s LG has signed a contract to develop connected-car platforms with the world’s second biggest carmaker.

Volkswagen is teaming up with the electronics giant to move beyond simply in-car electronics and connectivity, and is intriguingly aiming to integrate cars into smart home services.

The German and Korean industrial powerhouses are jointly creating a new cloud-based car service platform to push Volkswagen into a world beyond internal-combustion engines and into one where the car is completely integrated into a driver’s life.

The development program is aimed to let drivers monitor all the connected smart devices in their homes and, given that LG’s involved, that could include everything from air conditioners and refrigerators to televisions.

The agreement plans to allow Volkswagen drivers to operate home appliances like lights, air conditioners, heaters or even ovens from inside the car, or to monitor its security devices.

It will also deliver a new system of in-car messaging to the next generation of Volkswagen Group models, including Audi, Bentley, Porsche, Lamborghini, Skoda, Seat and even Bugatti models.

Volkswagen is demanding the joint development focus on cybersecurity and is pre-engineered to accommodate autonomous driving technologies, including the ability to stream and buffer movies into self-driving cars.

It will also usher in a new generation of in-car infotainment for Volkswagen Group cars, bringing all of these new functions into one ergonomically functional interface.

This should not come as a surprise, because Volkswagen floated most of these ideas with its BUDD-e electric concept car at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January this year.

LG and Volkswagen already do business together, too, with the South Korean company selling the carmaker battery and audio systems, and it also builds the electric motor and the lithium-ion battery cells for Chevrolet’s electric Bolt.

"Volkswagen is pressing on with the digitalization of its brands,” Professor Thomas Form, Volkswagen’s Head of Electronics and Vehicle Research, said.

“Our focus in doing so is always on our customers. For them, comfort, safety and energy efficiency play a central role.

“LG is a strong, reliable partner in the implementation of new features and one of the drivers of innovation in the networked household. We look forward to working with LG and to developing in future simple, easy-to-use smart home solutions for our customers integrated into our vehicle systems,” he said.

It’s not the first time a car company has joined forces with a tech giant. In fact, it’s not even the first time this year. Volvo has teamed up with fellow Scandinavian Ericsson, while BMW has joined forces with Intel and MobilEye to develop autonomous car architectures.