Of Innovation at Volkswagen

Volkswagen Group is a German Automobile manufacturing group which was incorporated in 1937 by the Nazi Government as Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft to produce and sell the Volkswagen Beetle – one of the most sold cars ever at over 21.5 Million units produced. Volkswagen Group, as on November 2009, is the largest automobile producing company in the world in terms of production. Volkswagen has been one of the Automakers to have bounced back from a very difficult time in the decade preceding the current. The company’s revival and sprint to the number one automobile manufacturer has been aided by a host of innovations the company has incorporated into its brands over the years. In fact, the result has as much to do with the brands under the Volkswagen group as the innovations themselves. In August 2009, Volkswagen Group and Porsche reached an agreement to merge in a phased manner, to be completed in 2011, under the leadership of the Volkswagen Group. This reverse merger took place on account on continual efforts by Porsche to acquire the Volkswagen Group over the past few years. The merger is particularly interesting because the original Volkswagen Beetle was designed by Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, who went on to become the founder of Porsche AG. The Volkswagen Group, as the world’s largest automaker, now includes the brands Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, SEAT, Skoda and Volkswagen (Commercial & Passenger Vehicles) itself. Volkswagen Group sells cars in over 150 countries worldwide with 54 plus production plants (VW Group minus Porsche) and generates revenues close to €118.3 Billion.

Volkswagen has rolled out three memorable and significant cars since existence – the Volkswagen Beetle, Volkswagen Bus and Volkswagen Golf. Of these, only the Beetle and Golf are still in production, although with brand new platforms, engines and designs. Of the 10-bestselling car nameplates till date, Volkswagen’s Golf stands at number three with over 26 Million units produced, the Beetle with over 21.5 Million units produced and the Volkswagen Passat with over 15 Million units sold.

Volkswagen’s innovations revolve primarily around x broad categories – Powertrains, BlueMotion, Assistance Systems and Future Mobility. On the Powertrains front, Volkswagen has been the pioneer in deploying TSI, or Turbo Stratified Injection, technology in its mainstream cars. While cars have been turbocharged for decades, they have been limited to performance motoring vehicles as no manufacturer has installed turbochargers in its mainstream cars, primarily because of cost constraints on mass-market models such on Sub-Compact cars such as the Volkswagen Golf, and compact cars such as the Volkswagen Jetta. What Volkswagen has done with its TSI range of engines is mate direct injection technology with turbochargers, something which is considerably new for gasoline engines. This was primarily inspired by the efficiency and power delivered by modern-day common rail diesel engines. TSI has allowed Volkswagen to significantly downsizing engines without sacrificing the torque and power produced by a car. The use of direct injection with turbo charging allows gasoline to burn far more efficiently than in ‘conventional’ multi-point fuel injection (MPFI) engines. The result is that TSI engines produce considerably more power in the same size than a conventional naturally aspirated MPFI engine. What’s groundbreaking about this technology is that it, as opposed to conventional wisdom, allows for increased power without compromising a great deal on efficiency. In effect, 1400cc TSI engines produce power which is comparable to 2000cc naturally aspirated engines, with an efficiency of a 1400cc engine because peak torque is available at as low as 1500 revolutions per minute! Volkswagen has taken the TSI technology forward by introducing TSI engines in its mainstream cars such as the brand new Polo, the Golf and the Jetta to name a few. The spillover effect has been present in other group brands as well. The Skoda Octavia (Laura in India) has been given a 1.8TSI heart which produces close to 150bhp on Indian fuel, and delivers efficiency comparable to naturally aspirated engines as in the Japanese competition such as the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. The engine technology is world acclaimed and has given Volkswagen multiple Engine of the Year awards in the past few years. To aid performance, Volkswagen developed a 7-speed Dual-Clutch technology which allows for lightning-fast gear shifts without compromising on durability of the gearbox, or the fuel efficiency of the car. The innovative ‘dry’ double clutch gives a driver the dynamic drive of a manual transmission with the convenience of an automatic transmission, and all this, with 10% less fuel consumption than a conventional automatic gearbox while further reducing CO2 emissions. The powertrain front of Volkswagen has given significant importance to increasing efficiency while retaining, or even increasing performance.

Volkswagen powertrain innovations and technology give a great deal of importance to sustainable mobility. For Volkswagen, this means deployment of significant resources for research & development, among other activities. The direct result of research & development on sustainable mobility using existing technology and making it more efficiency, Volkswagen introduced its BlueMotion technology umbrella which aims at maximizing the overall efficiency of the car through use of multiple measures which use packages that enable interplay of the engine, gearbox, aerodynamics and tyres. The most distinguished part of the BlueMotion technology is that it is very cost-effective. By using modified software for engine management, reduced idle speed, longer ratios for higher gears, minimizing aerodynamic drag, lowered rolling resistance of tyres, lower suspension settings and a basic start-stop system, Volkswagen cars can reduce their fuel consumption by over half a litre per 100 kilometres, which effectively translates into increasing fuel efficiency by close to 10% for the Volkswagen Golf over the non-BlueMotion model. The fact that all this is achievable at a cost which does not harm the economical motives of the consumer by keeping the purchase costs in check. While most other manufacturers have been rigorously spending millions of dollars on alternative technologies such as Hybrid engines and Fuel Cell engines, Volkswagen has got the upper hand through the use of available technological innovations and delivering the end-consumer what matters most – improved efficiency without compromising on performance without having to spend thousands of dollars to achieve it. This, of course, does not go to say that Volkswagen is not investing in these technologies. Volkswagen’s Alternative Powertrain programme has developed the BiFuel & EcoFuel powertrains which allow for use of two fuels simultaneously. Other Volkswagen group brands such as Audi have already developed their first electric sports cars and in partnership with Porsche, are developing Hybrid engines for SUVs.

Volkswagen group has streamlined the use of Assistance Systems in its cars across all segments. Assistance Systems aid the drivers’ judgement and driving process. The Lane Assist system is a preventive system that alerts the driver when he/she is moving in harm’s way into another lane. This, along with the Side Assist system that works on the side-view mirrors of cars through use of sensors, look to minimize the potential damage caused by lane changing accidents, particularly those cause by blind spots and driver fatigue. The Automatic distance control system and the Front Assist system are in-car aids that work with the cruise control system of the car to ensure a safe distance is maintained between the driver’s car and the cars in front and behind. These are technologies that are more focused on ensuring safety of drivers and passengers in Volkswagen group vehicles. These technologies have been incorporated into not only high-end and luxury segment vehicles of the Volkswagen Group vehicles, but have found their way to the mainstream compact vehicles such as the Volkswagen Jetta. Volkswagen has kept the customers’ daily convenience in mind while developing technology as well. Systems such as the Park Assist, which gives the driver a real-time view of tight parking spots through the use of sonar based technology, and Rear Assist, which uses a rear-mounted camera to give the driver a real time view of the actual distance to hit.

On the Future Mobility front, Volkswagen, along with sustainable technology in powertrains, has been thriving on computer-controlled vehicles. In the Urban Challenge 2007, Volkswagen’s Passat ‘Junior’ won the company a silver medal. The competition involved the computer controlled car performing everyday tasks such as parking, driving in dense traffic etc. Driver systems such as this are aimed at considerably enhancing levels of safety for both drivers and pedestrians while increasing driving comfort on the road.

Volkswagen’s research & development process to come up with these innovations is also notable. Volkswagen treats each of its brand companies as a separate entity, which translates into brand centric research as well. While this doesn’t limit the technology transfer, it allows for multiple research avenues which offer multiple variations and hence, allow for multiple solutions to often similar problems. For example, Volkswagen had developed the TDI technology, while Skoda, its subsidiary from the Czech Republic developed a technology that uses a non-common rail turbo-charged diesel but incorporates a technology called the Pumpe Deuse. This particular technology kept costs down because it did not incorporate the then-expensive direct injection technology. While the collective effort was to develop a more efficient and powerful engine with the same displacement capacity, Volkswagen did it in two ways, one using an upcoming expensive technology and the other using a far cheaper technology. The Skoda development was, of course, because Skoda, as a brand, stands for Frugal engineering across Western Europe and hence, is expected to produce cheaper cars. Volkswagen gives due importance to collective effort as well, which is why all brand research is also done at Wolfsburg, the location of Volkswagen headquarters. This, in effect, translates into effective research as the networking and communication processes between the Wolfsburg centres ensures that similar research is not duplicated at other brand headquarters and that individual brands can focus on developing components that are more suited to their own specific needs. The strategic orientation extends beyond the European mainland. Volkswagen has Research & Development bases in California in the United States of America, Tokyo and China, and an upcoming base in India, which is primarily aimed at frugal engineering from the country. This allows for market-specific development to suit the needs of specific markets and hence, allows a far more focused customer driven innovation process whereby the group brands can deliver innovations which meet the demands and needs of the local consumers.

The Innovations put through by Volkswagen are evidence of their inclination towards customer driven innovation. Innovations like BlueMotion technologies and TSI engines speak volumes about the amount of emphasis Volkswagen lays on delivering exceptional value to its customers by offering them practical solutions to their problems without either party spending exorbitant amounts in acquiring the same. Volkswagen’s innovations have translated into sales and customer satisfaction across brands, which is precisely why it is the world’s number one automobile manufacturer.