 Cariad 1
2021: For those coming from purely combustion engines, the leap to purely electric drive is quite a challenge. It is easier for those who have already dealt with hybrid technology in the meantime.
Is it still the case that there is software for the upper class and another for volume models? And where should distinctions be made? What do you think the customer is capable of noticing?
| What exactly is Cariad's task? |
'Bundling software development and architecture and centralizing and focusing them in one place'. The whole thing is quite a challenge. Launched during the coronavirus pandemic and
unlike other companies, it operates on a multi-location principle. Never all persons in one place and at one location.
If you look at the other constraints at Volkswagen, such as which architectures were additionally placed in the Carriot and for which they were responsible, then it was a very big task,
challenge, and responsibility.
Is it even possible for outsiders to imagine how difficult it is to create synergies across volume, sports, and premium vehicles? Just reaching joint decisions across the distance seems difficult.
Added to this are the various interests, especially of the brands, but long-established corporate styles also clash. Everything that has been ignored and left unaddressed for so long since the founding of this giant
corporation is now colliding here.
This cannot be explained solely by inertia in such groups of people, but also has to do with the granting and acceptance of mandates. Long afterward, one still has the feeling that there is an unresolved problem here,
perhaps even to this day.
Perhaps out of fear, no one on the board or the CEO spoke up clearly about it. One reason for this may be that the systems involved are far too complex and should have been investigated more thoroughly, with fewer staff
at the outset.
What happens when a decision is announced without a mandate, as was probably the case for many of them for a series production start? In the worst case, nothing at all. After all, there never seems to be a decision that
positively affects all parties involved.
And then you don't even need to ask about optimizations anymore. The foundation is too fragile for that. In any case, the number of participants is far too high for these options as well. And even the potential cost savings
that are emerging do not mean that everyone agrees.
Cost effects, that's what we were aiming for. And now the whole thing is turning into the exact opposite, for example due to missed series starts. Instead of scaling, we now have to deal with emergency situations and
ensuring delivery capability.
Fundamental changes and a realignment of Cariad seemed inevitable. But can you just do that, or should it be done in coordination with the departments working in parallel, e.g., with hardware for combustion engines and
electric vehicles?
Shouldn't Cariad have been better integrated from the outset? In any case, too much transformation on too many levels is detrimental. Or do you have to accept that because, in hindsight, there may be a more favorable
time?
In summary, it can be said that many people, 4,000–6,000 (?), were gathered under the Cariad umbrella, perhaps too many for the beginning? Teams with unclear tasks were formed by people who then, for example, fell
back on the skills they had learned at their former employers.
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