As a company in the automobile industry VW felt responsible for working on their digitalization form the very beginning. It was Johann Jungwirth who held VW’s CDO position for the last three years. Like this he could built up a new sector in Potsdam which explored future technologies. Worth mentioning is their study ‘Sedric’ giving an outlook on cars in the future. 

“Digital-know-how is an important factor for the competitiveness of VW.”

Frank Witter, Group Management Board for finance and IT

Why should VW and the VW CDO be involved in digitalization?

VW classifies digitalization in six areas. These are: Digital User Experience, Digital Products & Services, Smart Mobility, Digital Retailing, Industry 4.0 and Business 4.0. The last area of Business 4.0 for them is the transformation of the enterprise and workplace.

Thinking about both developers and partners, as well as competitors, the VW group is open for all of them and their wishes. Generally they work on the digitalization of the production as well as on programs providing help for employees. Here it’s all about increasing efficiency – saving money and time.

TOGETHER – Strategy 2025: Like this they call the strategie to work on the biggest process of change in VW’s history. Their vision is it to become a world-leading provider of sustainable mobility. 

Digital subsidiaries

The brand Volkswagen Financial Services is one of the main actors for the Strategy 2025. They want to be a reliable partner for both – dealers but also for customers. Basically by realizing mobility with appropriate products. Therefore Volkswagen Group IT Services GmbH offers process-, personal- and commercial service. Especially they provide digital solutions for the future of mobility.

Accelerators / Incubators

In October 2016 the VW Group-IT opened a Digital Lab (Definition Digital Lab) in Berlin. IT-specialists work on the development of further digital offers. To support innovators especially in the field of car-sharing, concierge, navigation services or smart home services the Ideation Hub of VW-group funds the ‘Future Mobility Incubator’.

Social media

The German auto manufacturer VW has a global presence with 72 facebook-pages, 27 youtube-pages. In April 2018, VW announced their plan of changing the social media strategy. Activities on social networks, more digital initiatives an a new logo is planned. All of this will be ralized with the help of different communication- and advertising agencies. Focus here is to take away the scepticism towards e-cars.

Jan

My name is Jan Puder (LinkedIn profile Jan Puder). I am the founder & CEO of the BusinessTech-Company. Me and the BusinessTech-Company want to push the digital frontier. This is the reason, why I started this website. I want to provide information about digital businesses, especially for Chief Digital Officers.

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