Volkswagen | A helping hand from Rivian for the electric Golf
A few weeks after announcing the creation of a joint venture with the young American manufacturer of electric vehicles Rivian, the big boss of Volkswagen, Thomas Schäfer, declared that the next generation of the Golf will benefit from this close collaboration.
The iconic model, the ninth electrified generation of which will see the light of day in 2029, will be based on a new modular platform called Scalable Systems Platform (SSP). The current engine vintage could, however, survive in parallel until 2035, according to the magazine Top Gear.
Rivian will participate as much in the software aspect of this new Golf as in the development of the electrical architecture, confided Schäfer during an interview with Automotive News. Given the widely documented problems that have affected Cariad, the Volkswagen Group's software division, this outside help will undoubtedly be welcome.
This collaborative approach to amortizing development costs linked to electrification is increasingly recommended in an industry trying to ensure its viability. We only have to think, among other things, of the collaboration between Honda and General Motors which led to the putting into production of the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX, based on a platform from the American manufacturer.
Volkswagen is currently going through one of the most significant crises in its history, pushing it to seek to save 4 billion euros (5.9 billion CAN). The German giant plans to close three factories in Germany as well as a pay cut for its employees to help it get through this stormy period.
