Future Centers to drive VW into digital era

CEO of Volkswagen AG Matthias Mueller poses in SAIC Volkswagen's Phideon at the Volkswagen Group Night event in Geneva, Switzerland, on Feb 29, 2015, ahead of the Geneva International Motor Show.[Hao Yan/chinadaily.com.cn]

CEO Matthias Mueller announced three new "Volkswagen Group Future Centers" in Potsdam, Germany, California, the United States and China, on Monday in Geneva at the Volkswagen Group Night event. Designers and digitalization experts will work together on the car of the future at these centers.

Mueller said "We are realigning our Group Design for the digital era," in addition, an "autonomous driving" offensive has been started with the aim of bringing this core technology to market maturity faster than the competition.

The Volkswagen Group currently has nine electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids in its product range. It will be adding a further 20 models by 2020.