Toronto, Ontario -- The Volkswagen Group is launching its first home-grown advanced driver assistance system tailored for the Chinese market.
Unveiled this week, the AI-powered system marks a notable pivot for the German automaker as it scrambles to keep pace with increasingly sophisticated local rivals in the electric vehicle arms race.
The German OEM's new system, developed through Volkswagen’s partnership with Horizon Robotics via their joint venture CARIZON, will deliver ADAS functions up to what the company calls Level 2++, edging ever closer to true autonomy. Central to this new approach is GAIA, an AI-powered data platform training the system to improve over time, unlocking high-precision safety features and real-time performance enhancements.
“With our new ADAS system, we are demonstrating what is possible when strengths of Volkswagen are combined with local innovation," said Ralf Brandstätter, chief executive officer of Volkswagen Group China. "The system has been developed at ‘China speed’, fully tailored to the needs of our Chinese customers and will set a new benchmark in the market for driving performance, safety and quality."
Set to debut on a Volkswagen-brand vehicle before the end of 2025, the ADAS tech will roll out more broadly across a new wave of smart electric vehicles in China from 2026 onward.
Volkswagen says the project is a pillar of its “In China, for China” strategy — a commitment to developing market-specific technology inside the world’s largest country. The local-first mindset reflects a major departure from the company’s traditional global rollout approach, signalling that even legacy brands must rethink their playbooks to thrive in today’s fast-evolving auto tech landscape.
