VW establishes New Mobility Division to oversee EV and software programs

Volkswagen has followed Ford's example by creating a new division within the brand that will focus on electric vehicles and software development, the two pillars of the current automotive industry transformation.

The Volkswagen Group's volume brand announced this week the creation of a New Mobility division to accelerate the development of electric vehicles and software. Ford made a similar move in March with the creation of its Model E division for EVs and software, alongside Ford Blue for internal combustion vehicles and Ford Pro for commercial vehicles.

"With the newly established New Mobility division, we are increasing the pace of innovation by uniting the strategic action areas of electric mobility and software," VW CEO Thomas Schaefer said in a statement.

Thomas Ulbrich has been appointed head of New Mobility. He currently serves as VW's chief technology officer and head of the EV division, where he oversaw the development of the ID.3 and ID.4.

In New Mobility, Ulbrich is responsible for the development of additional VW vehicles based on the current MEB platform designed for the VW Group's mass-market models and the highly modular platform that will ultimately underpin the majority of VW Group EVs Oversee the development of VW vehicles based on the upcoming SSP platform, a highly modular platform that will ultimately power the majority of the VW Group's EVs.

The first SSP-based model will be a VW fastback, heavily advertised under the code name Project Trinity. The vehicle is slated for 2026 and is said to be a competitor to the Tesla Model 3.

Software, including self-driving technology, is another feature of the SSP platform. Look for over-the-air updates, on-demand capabilities, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications, and an in-house operating system known as VW.OS.

In addition to his new role as head of the New Mobility division, Ulbrich will also serve on Cariad's board of directors to strengthen cooperation Cariad will be responsible for software development, while New Mobility will be responsible for software integration into individual models