Volkswagen beds Microsoft to deliver driverless tech

Volkswagen and Microsoft have announced that they are extending their partnership to develop a new cloud-based technology that will help both parties fast-forward the introduction of autonomous driving systems.

As part of the deal, Volkswagen's software division will have access to the US tech giant's cloud-based Microsoft Azure platform.

This, claims both parties, will help the development of the driverless tech and enable it to be more easily integrated into cars.

It's understood that the greater processing power in the cloud could overcome the limitation of current hardware used in vehicles, which struggle to cope with crunching the amount of data needed for autonomous driving.

Volkswagen and Microsoft have been working together since 2018, with the latter helping the car-maker integrate its digital services and introduce over-the-air updates for its latest models.

Volkswagen has already announced that it plans to invest an incredible €27 billion ($A42bn) in digitisation by 2025 as part of efforts to take its software development in-house.

The German auto giant has admitted that only 10 per cent of all the software its vehicles use is currently developed in-house. It is hoping to ramp that up to 60 per cent in the near future.

Volkswagen says its new Automotive Cloud will soon start testing ahead of a full production roll-out in 2022, when it's thought its Autonomous Driving Platform will launch in Beta form.

The motivation behind the huge drive and investment in software follows very public failings with the software systems for both the Mk8 Volkswagen Golf hatch and the flagship Volkswagen ID.3 pure-electric car.

Commenting on the partnership, Dirk Hilgenberg, CEO of the Volkswagen Group's Car.Software Organisation, said: “Microsoft has considerable know-how in the field of scalable cloud services. We benefit from this. Conversely, this platform requires development experience of automated driving functions for series production. 

“We are also already working with Microsoft on the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud, which will encompass Volkswagen’s digital services and mobility offerings in the future. We are making good progress in this.

"We want to use this momentum to expand our collaboration.”