VW reportedly ends automated driving partnership with Bosch

Bosch, Volkswagen and Volkswagen’s software subsidiary Cariad established the Automated Driving Alliance (ADA) in 2022 to develop a scalable platform for assisted and automated driving functions up to SAE Level 3. According to Bosch, the objective was to create ‘advanced driving functions that are cost-effective, accessible for everyone, and suitable for integration across all vehicle segments.’

Reports indicate that more than 1,000 specialists worked within the ADA framework on a software platform for advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), with the intention of making the technology available to other vehicle manufacturers at a later stage. As recently as August 2025, Bosch and Cariad said they were working on increasingly robust automated driving systems.

The project operated on a large scale. Referring to the partnership, Cariad stated: “We have more than 1,500 test and data collection vehicles on the road across Europe, the U.S., and Japan, and our fleets are operational 24/7.”

The alliance now appears to be coming to an end. According to a report by Bild, the partners plan to discontinue the collaboration. The report states that Volkswagen has already invested around €1.5 billion in ADA.

According to Bild, the main reason is that Volkswagen’s internal teams no longer consider the technology developed within the alliance to be competitive. In particular, the carmaker reportedly sees a significant gap to rivals in the field of Level 2++ systems, which enable hands-free automated driving in urban environments.

Several competitors have recently advanced their offerings in this area. Tesla has received approval for its FSD (Supervised) system in the first European markets following its rollout in the United States. Mercedes-Benz is preparing to launch MB.Drive Assist Pro in Europe after introducing the system in the US, while BMW offers a comparable Motorway & City Assistant in the new iX3.

According to a report by Automobilwoche, the decision to end the partnership with Bosch was made by Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume. The report states that Blume criticised the pace of development internally, arguing that progress was lagging behind developments in China. Volkswagen already works with Chinese technology company Horizon on automated driving systems for the Chinese market.

So far, neither Bosch nor Volkswagen has officially confirmed the end of the Automated Driving Alliance. A spokesperson for Volkswagen software subsidiary Cariad told Bild: “We regularly review our development partnerships and continuously align them with our strategic and technological goals, as well as current market developments.” Bosch later issued the same statement to the news agency Reuters.

According to Bild, Volkswagen plans to source and further develop the hardware and software for future systems from Level 2++ onwards with a new partner. One possible candidate is Mobileye. Volkswagen has been working with the Israeli technology company since last year on Level 2+ motorway assistance systems for combustion-engine vehicles. The carmaker also uses Mobileye technology for Level 4 automated driving in the ID. Buzz AD, which is due to be deployed in the United States through a partnership with Uber.

bild.de, handelsblatt.com, automobilwoche.de (all in German)