Software issues at Volkswagen delaying the next-gen SSP platform

If any automaker is finding the bright side of the electric vehicle slowdown — outside of the Japanese, who've been skeptical since the beginning — it might be the Volkswagen Group. That's because Cariad, the group's software division, is still puzzling its way through code that won't do what's required. German outlet Manager Magazin (hat tip to Carscoops) has followed VW's programming travails for five years now, when software issues perturbed the launches of the Mk8 Golf and ID.3. The Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) succeeding VW's MEB platform was meant to hit roads in 2024; software delays have pushed it out past 2026, a final date still uncertain. Group CEO Oliver Blume said a year ago that everything was back on track, telling investors that Audi, the VW Group brand meant to be first off the line with an SSP-based offering, would launch its car on time in 2026. Two months later, German reports said the SSP was in arrears again (or still), and Audi, tired of waiting, had begun talking to Chinese automakers about buying an EV platform. Now it's looking like 2027 or 2028 will be the year for Audi's SSP vehicle.

Meanwhile, at the Volkswagen brand, Manager Magazin (translated) and Handelsblatt (translated) both write that the coding problems have pushed back next-generation models like the electric Golf and the ID.4 to 2029 at the earliest. That's at least 15 months behind schedule. The ID.4 will be nine years old at that point. The market's so hard to read that who knows what the effect on the SUV will be. However, with competitors rolling out new models, even at a slower pace, one suspects an aging ID.4 will suffer. U.S. dealers moved 12,380 units in the first half of this year, down 15% on 2023, going the wrong way compared to 11.3% growth in EV sales in the first half of this year.  

Furthermore, delaying the opening salvo of vehicles pushes other launches back, since VW doesn't want to roll out too many products at once — a proviso that assumes everything gets on track soon. The launch of a large electric Volkswagen SUV called T-Sport is said to have been moved from 2028 to 2031.

Porsche will have decisions to make as well, the brand's seven-seat electric SUV codenamed K1 built on the SSP, already out testing and due in 2027. 

For the VW Group, none of this news is ideal. For the VW brand, the EV sales slowdown limits the damage, as well as gives the automaker time to make more money off the MEB platform, which is due for a refresh into MEB+ spec for 2026.