Information Technology (IT)

The communication society, the nearly universal information technology support for business processes and the development of new locations continually pose new challenges to the IT functions of large companies. An adequately equipped IT infrastructure, both technologically and quantitatively, is the foundation for stable IT systems and thus for optimal IT support.

Ensuring that new developments in the application landscape are passed on efficiently to the different corporate locations and incorporated into business processes and the sales network is just as vital as having a modern IT infrastructure. The IT staff are responsible not only for programming the systems at all of the Volkswagen Group’s brands, but also for supporting users in Technical Development, Production and Sales. This is how applications tailored to the exact needs of the users are created. Volkswagen’s factory planners can use the “digital factory”, for example, to virtually walk through the future production buildings long before the ground is broken. IT support ensures that employees on the production line can build the right vehicle at the right time using the Group-wide “Fertigungs-, Informations- und Steuerungssystem” (FIS – Production, Information and Control System). Expert teams on the ground develop solutions that can be applied globally and across brands for all of these IT services. In this way, Volkswagen establishes IT standards in its business areas that also form a basis for leveraging potential synergies.

In addition, customers expect to find innovative communications technology and IT in the Volkswagen Group’s vehicles – such as networking the vehicle to the Internet, or apps tailored to meet individual needs. The Audi brand’s “Audi Connect” system has been further developed into a modular system that can be used by other brands in the Group. The “Car Net” services introduced with the Golf GTI are based on the same approach, for example. The services are operated across all the brands through regional data centers. Data security is another top priority alongside functionality. Volkswagen applies the highest security standards when transferring data between vehicles and data centers.

Volkswagen’s employees are systematically educated and trained so that, combined with reliable IT security systems, the risk of sensitive data being accessed by unauthorized persons is reduced. A Group-wide information security campaign that addresses the management of sensitive data has been in place since 2012.