Volkswagen is still struggling with the aftermath of the parallel introduction of two platforms. The giant has imposed a tight pace of development, which is a challenge even with the enormous resources of this group. The pressure is unlikely to ease because, on the one hand, Volkswagen has to make the current modular kits for electric drives (MEB) and infotainment (MIB) a success. Too much money has flown for the group to flop here without getting into dire straits.

On the other hand, Volkswagen can not only take care of the inventory, but has to face the huge structural change that has affected the entire industry. That is of course a work in progress. From 2026 a volume model is to roll off the assembly line in Wolfsburg. It will be called “Trinity” – an allusion to three central trends that the company wants to focus on: an additional own electrical platform, even more networking in the car and “fully networked production processes” in the factory.

Electric flagship The supervisory board of the largest car manufacturer had ended 2020 also under pressure from the works council decided that the planning for VW’s “electric flagship” should start earlier than initially planned. Similar to the Audi, Porsche and Bentley brands with their model for the luxury class in Hanover, the group wants to bring together expertise from several areas. The project is also important for the home locations of Volkswagen in Lower Saxony and the internal supplier plants.

Additional platform The “Trinity”, for which the working title “Aeroliner” has been circulating, is to be created on a modular system that goes beyond the current version. Versions for other group brands are then also built on the supplementary platform. With this scaling, Volkswagen spreads the development costs over many models. VW works council chief Bernd Osterloh had recently told the dpa that he was expecting a “clearly six-digit number per year” for the car . The company did not want to comment on possible specific production volumes.

As is well known, the MIB had a very difficult start. If you look at the current advances in Android Automotive, it becomes clear how ambitious Volkswagen’s plan is to survive on the market with its own software and even want to offer it to competitors in the future. Nevertheless, the Trinity also relies on its own software, the development of which is being advanced in the IT division of the group. With car2x, the group is pushing a powerful project that also plays a role in the field of autonomous driving.

Volkswagen wants to 2030 round 35 launch new battery electric models. Around 35 billion euros are planned for this. In four years, more than one million electric cars are expected to leave the eight planned production sites in the USA, China and Europe every year. This makes it clear that, unlike in the past, the market leader wants to be at the forefront of this development. In view of the global changes that are pending in the area of ​​mobility, anything else would also be economic suicide.

(mfz)