Volkswagen Joint Venture Develops In-House Chip for China's Smart Cars
- tech360.tv
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CARIZON, Volkswagen's joint venture with China's Horizon Robotics, will develop the German carmaker's first in-house chip. This chip is designed to power smart driving capabilities in Volkswagen's next-generation vehicles for the Chinese market.
The chip will process data from in-car cameras and sensors, offering a single-chip computing power of 500 to 700 tera operations per second (TOPS). Volkswagen expects to deliver this product within the next three to five years.
This initiative is set to deepen Volkswagen's research and development capabilities "in China, for China," reflecting a strategic move in its largest market. The company aims to improve product competitiveness and catch up with rapid local rivals.
Volkswagen has also expanded a partnership with Xpeng to jointly develop electronics architecture for more models in China. This collaboration highlights the carmaker's strategy to integrate local technologies.
Annual sales for Volkswagen in China decreased to 2.75 million units in 2024, a significant drop from its peak of over 4 million units in 2018. The company lost its title as China's best-selling brand to local rival BYD in 2023.
BYD has achieved record-setting expansions over the past five years with its affordable pure electric and plug-in hybrid models. This growth underscores the competitive landscape Volkswagen faces.
Frank Han, China CEO of Volkswagen's subsidiary Cariad, stated the chip would be manufactured with a 3-4 nanometre processing node. He noted there are "few options" for foundries capable of mass producing such a chip.
Volkswagen plans to deploy this new chip in its third generation of China Electrical Architecture (CEA). Han confirmed that 80% of Volkswagen Group cars sold in China by 2030 will be developed with CEA.
The first model using this architecture, powered by Horizon Robotics J-series chips, is scheduled for rollout at the end of this year.
Volkswagen's joint venture CARIZON is developing an in-house chip for smart driving features in its China-market vehicles.
The chip will have a computing power of 500-700 TOPS and is expected within three to five years.
Volkswagen seeks to boost its competitiveness in China, where sales have declined and it lost its top-selling brand title to BYD.
Source: REUTERS