{"id":240372,"date":"2023-10-02T21:29:50","date_gmt":"2023-10-02T21:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automotobuzz.com\/?p=240372"},"modified":"2023-10-02T21:29:50","modified_gmt":"2023-10-02T21:29:50","slug":"volkswagen-hires-rivian-tesla-veteran-to-help-sort-out-its-software-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automotobuzz.com\/car-reviews\/volkswagen-hires-rivian-tesla-veteran-to-help-sort-out-its-software-woes\/","title":{"rendered":"Volkswagen Hires Rivian, Tesla Veteran To Help Sort Out Its Software Woes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span>When a chorus of automakers started announcing they would eventually phase out their internal combustion engines, the undertone was usually this: \u201cHow hard could it be?\u201d But it turns out <\/span><span>the answer is \u201cvery hard,\u201d especially when it comes to software<\/span>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<span>something more crucial than ever to the future of cars. The Volkswagen Group knows that pain very well. Now it\u2019s bringing on Sanjay Lal, a veteran of Rivian and Tesla, to help solve its software woes. Can he get one of the world\u2019s largest automakers back on track?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The VW Group announced Lal will lead the new Software Defined Vehicle Hub at CARIAD, its consolidated software division. Boasting more than 25 years of experience in the automotive software space, Lal was most recently VP of Software Platforms at Rivian, where he led the development of its infotainment systems, among other things. He has also held engineering leadership positions at Cisco, Google, and Tesla.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>&#8220;Sanjay is someone we can all look forward to,\u201d CARIAD CEO Peter Bosch said in a statement to <em>InsideEVs<\/em>. \u201cHe is a true expert in the Software Defined Vehicle \u2013 together with him we will develop a competitive advantage for the brands and the Volkswagen Group.\u201d The \u201chub\u201d Lal will lead is a small team across Volkswagen and Audi \u2013 with more brands to join eventually \u2013 focused on developing software more quickly, with less development time, and hardware built around it. \u201cSpeed is the new imperative to stay competitive,&#8221; VW Group CEO Oliver Blume said to investors this summer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Lal will likely have his work cut out for him. CARIAD was formed in 2020 to unify the VW Group\u2019s previously disparate and disconnected software platforms, often with multiple software platforms and parts from different vendors \u2013 far from ideal when competing with companies like Tesla, which keep cohesively in-house. (Ford CEO Jim Farley <\/span><span>has also explained why this is such a pain point for the automakers<\/span><span>.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But CARIAD has had plenty of its own headaches<\/span><span>, such that the automaker\u2019s software game couldn\u2019t match its aggressive ambitions to go all-electric from 2035 onward. VW\u2019s electric cars have had rocky software feature rollouts and plenty of glitches while key cars like the electric Porsche Macan and Audi Q6 e-tron were subsequently delayed due to bugs. Software woes are also part of the reason <\/span><span>past VW Group CEO Herbert Diess was sacked in 2022<\/span><span>. More disorder followed this summer <\/span><span>when a number of other top CARIAD executives were fired, as <em>InsideEVs<\/em> reported in May<\/span><span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>These problems have also delayed the VW Group\u2019s plan for Level 4 automated driving, putting it behind rivals like Mercedes-Benz due to get there first \u2013 to say nothing of its aggressive plans <\/span><span>for in-car apps and subscription features to drive revenue<\/span><span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In short, it\u2019s been a mess for the company that originally kicked off the move to all-electric vehicles, in part out of penance for its diesel cheating scandal. All of the features that will make tomorrow\u2019s cars more competitive will be software-driven. So it\u2019s no wonder the company is excited to bring on Lal \u2013 a veteran of two electric automakers known for their A+ software game. If he can\u2019t help sort out these issues, the VW Group could find itself further behind the curve and with even more frustrated customers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A CARIAD spokesman didn\u2019t respond to detailed questions from <em>InsideEVs<\/em>. But officials did say \u201cthe SDV Hub&#8217;s development work will also form the basis for scaling the E\u00b3 2.0 architecture throughout the Volkswagen Group. With the next-generation architecture, E\u00b3 2.0, the Volkswagen Group plans to be the decisive step ahead of the competition.\u201d It\u2019s certainly going to need it; that\u2019s one area where many of the startups and new players seem to have a significant edge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>If a guy from Rivian and Tesla got the job, what do you want to see from the VW Group\u2019s revised software push? What can it do better than it\u2019s done so far?<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/insideevs.com\/news\/689505\/vw-hires-rivian-tesla-vet-software-problems\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When a chorus of automakers started announcing they would eventually phase out their internal combustion engines, the undertone was usually<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240371,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Volkswagen Hires Rivian, Tesla Veteran To Help Sort Out Its Software Woes - AutoMotoBuzz.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automotobuzz.com\/car-reviews\/volkswagen-hires-rivian-tesla-veteran-to-help-sort-out-its-software-woes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Volkswagen Hires Rivian, Tesla Veteran To Help Sort Out Its Software Woes - 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