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Audi to Ax Artemis AV Project as Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume Rethinks Strategy

As Volkswagen Group’s dreams to crack autonomous driving have evaporated, along with Herbert Diess’ career, it’s high time for new CEO Oliver Blume to act. According to Automotive News, his first decision would be to ax the Artemis project and start fresh.
Audi to ax the Artemis AV project 6 photos
Photo: Audi
Audi grandsphere conceptAudi grandsphere conceptVolkswagen OS 2.0SSP (Scalable Systems Platform)Audi Apollon
As traditional carmakers start their EV journey, they discover that software is more important than the nuts and bolts in a vehicle. Software is also a tough nut to crack and can make or break a car. Or an executive’s career, as was the case with Volkswagen Group’s former CEO, Herbert Diess. The new CEO, Oliver Blume, has indicated that he is not content with how things are going and is already on the way to undoing many of the decisions that Diess made.

In November, Blume was saying that the new EV factory in Wolfsburg that was supposed to build the future autonomous vehicles is no longer on the roadmap. As a result, Volkswagen’s Trinity flagship sedan project would see a significant delay. New information about Volkswagen’s plans seems to indicate that not only Trinity is in jeopardy but the whole Artemis project.

You might know the Artemis name better from NASA’s plans to put boots on the Moon. In the automotive world, Artemis was the designated name for an ambitious plan to turn the Volkswagen Group into an autonomous driving powerhouse. Artemis project would’ve spawned future Level-4 AV models such as the Porsche Sport, Audi Apollon, and Volkswagen Trinity programs. The Artemis project was under Audi’s supervision, a ring to rule them all, so to speak, but the software part was already screwed by Cariad, Volkswagen’s newly established software arm.

According to Automotive News (reading requires subscription), Oliver Blume is expected to present a new software roadmap at a supervisory board meeting on December 15. Among the measures that Blume seeks to implement are the axing of the Artemis project and handing the AV lead to Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles unit. This means no Artemis and no Trinity, not to mention that the spheres in Audi’s constellation of projects are also heading nowhere.

Instead, Blume wants the ID. Buzz minivan to become Volkswagen’s first autonomous vehicle. The ID. Buzz AV van will be introduced to the public as a self-driving shuttle in Hamburg in 2025. The new roadmap also promotes the group’s 1.1 and 1.2 software platforms as the next best thing, with the 1.2 platforms renamed “Software Premium” and made ready for Porsche and Audi by the decade’s end. At the same time, the 1.1 platform will be used by the group’s mass-market brands.

The new scaled-back plans confirm Oliver Blume’s stance as a traditionalist, offering a more down-to-earth perspective for the German company. Nevertheless, while Herbert Diess was considered a dreamer (maybe even a lunatic), the current management at Volkswagen lacks the ambition to drive the German carmaker into the future. Volkswagen had a head start in electric vehicles but now risks falling behind American rivals Ford and especially GM.
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About the author: Cristian Agatie
Cristian Agatie profile photo

After his childhood dream of becoming a "tractor operator" didn't pan out, Cristian turned to journalism, first in print and later moving to online media. His top interests are electric vehicles and new energy solutions.
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