Turmoil at VW: Porsches Postponed by Buggy Software Cost VW’s CEO His Job

[Deleted member 4117]

Thoughts?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/porsches-postponed-buggy-software-cost-120017061.html

 

[thecoloradokid]

“They should have head-hunted the best people from Silicon Valley,” Schmidt said. “You can’t lead on software with automotive people.”

I think this sentence says it all.

If you had or have an early VIN Taycan you acutely felt this with the numerous fixes, recalls, or updates. I do have to say that my new '22 CT4s feels light years a head of my early VIN Taycan in regards to the PCM, so I do have to give Porsche a little credit in making improvements.

 

[DCYL725]

Thoughts?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/porsches-postponed-buggy-software-cost-120017061.html

Porsche IPO went from 100bn Euro valuation vs. 50bn Euro, that's a large chunk of shareholder value lost. His no. 1 responsibility as CEO is to create shareholder value and he failed.

The software is so vital because, in order for Porsche to get the EV segment valuation from investors, software and hardware need to be delivered and comparable to competitors. In Porsche's case, they were not. We are talking about a magnitude of 10's in valuation multiples if Porsche had software ready to go and be competitive, and Macan EV set for 2023.

This EV trend won't last forever and there is a limited window to max out valuations and unfortunately, Porsche wasn't able to. Pity.

We all know Taycan software sucks hard. We can let it pass because of the way it drives, but not every consumer is like posters in Porsche/Taycan forums.

 

[JimBob]

Within 10 minutes I have seen articles that say he lost his job because he pushed electrification and upset too many powers, to he didn't get the software right so was holding up electrification.

 

[Kayone73]

One of the many models that appear to be delayed as a result is the upcoming Macan EV.

https://www.carscoops.com/2022/07/p...tric-macan-by-one-year-new-ev-coming-in-2024/

 

[ThePaddyWan]

Software has definitely become the core and central to the overall experience for cars (and life as a whole) nowadays. Most people have high expectations for software that just works and is well integrated. I do think that there'll be a shake-up in the auto industry because of this.

The big challenges are unwinding years of engineering in components into the CANBUS and combining the hardware and engineering expertise with agile software development lifecycles. Newer OEMs (Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, etc.) have the advantage of working from a fresh starting point with their software stack.

 

[Deleted member 4117]

One of the many models that appear to be delayed as a result is the upcoming Macan EV.

https://www.carscoops.com/2022/07/p...tric-macan-by-one-year-new-ev-coming-in-2024/

I know; I was actually looking forward to putting a reservation for a Macan EV?

 

[Kayone73]

Software has definitely become the core and central to the overall experience for cars (and life as a whole) nowadays. Most people have high expectations for software that just works and is well integrated. I do think that there'll be a shake-up in the auto industry because of this.

The big challenges are unwinding years of engineering in components into the CANBUS and combining the hardware and engineering expertise with agile software development lifecycles. Newer OEMs (Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, etc.) have the advantage of working from a fresh starting point with their software stack.

Agreed, much easier to redesign the whole hardware/software integration thing from a clean sheet of paper and without the baggage of having decades of doing it 'the traditional way'.

Of course companies like Tesla, Rivian and Lucid have their own software issues as well, basically releasing betas to the public and having their customers for the first several years being effectively beta testers to have them improve each software build and working out the bugs in real time.

 

[B61]

Software has definitely become the core and central to the overall experience for cars (and life as a whole) nowadays. Most people have high expectations for software that just works and is well integrated. I do think that there'll be a shake-up in the auto industry because of this.

The big challenges are unwinding years of engineering in components into the CANBUS and combining the hardware and engineering expertise with agile software development lifecycles. Newer OEMs (Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, etc.) have the advantage of working from a fresh starting point with their software stack.

+1.

check Cariad (=VW software company).
the completely new platform, called VW.OS is announced for 2025…if…if there won’t be any delays….
so the question is, what we are using today, what we‘ll get tomorrow….and the day after…??

 

[Archimedes]

Porsche IPO went from 100bn Euro valuation vs. 50bn Euro, that's a large chunk of shareholder value lost. His no. 1 responsibility as CEO is to create shareholder value and he failed.

Porsche’s valuation fell because of market conditions, not company performance.

 

[Deleted member 4117]

Agreed, much easier to redesign the whole hardware/software integration thing from a clean sheet of paper and without the baggage of having decades of doing it 'the traditional way'.

Of course companies like Tesla, Rivian and Lucid have their own software issues as well, basically releasing betas to the public and having their customers for the first several years being effectively beta testers to have them improve each software build and working out the bugs in real time.

I wonder if VW will ever consider working with Google and their Android-based software like the one in Polestar 2? From a personal experience, I found the Polestar 2 software much more robust and cleaner than my Taycan’s UI/UX.

 

[Dan1210]

I have a CT on order due in September and i must admit im a little jealous of some of the Mercedes features they have in their new ev vehicles.

 

[Kayone73]

I wonder if VW will ever consider working with Google and their Android-based software like the one in Polestar 2? From a personal experience, I found the Polestar 2 software much more robust and cleaner than my Taycan’s UI/UX.

Anything is possible, all depends on motivations of VAG company execs and internal politics.

But remember, Porsche was the company that wouldn't support Android Auto for the LONGEST TIME due to their mistrust of Google data mining from their cars ?

 

[TaycanHero]

Porsche’s valuation fell because of market conditions, not company performance.

Sales are down 16% in their biggest market (China) and down 10% in their second biggest market (USA) H1 2022:

https://performancedrive.com.au/porsche-sales-up-17-6-in-australia-in-h1-2022-global-down-5-2122/

That is having an impact on valuation, though in fairness practically everything is in freefall at the moment.

 

[Deleted member 7736]

Of course companies like Tesla, Rivian and Lucid have their own software issues as well, basically releasing betas to the public and having their customers for the first several years being effectively beta testers to have them improve each software build and working out the bugs in real time.

This happens in pretty much every industry. Garmin, for example, is notorious for this. Every new Garmin device that is released is pretty much crap for the first year, and then after 20-30 SW revisions eventually becomes a great product.