Vokswagen has reportedly recruited a former Tesla engineering director to bolster the German carmaker’s ailing software push.
Bloomberg said Sanjay Lal would join next month from Rivian Automotive to help develop VW’s next software platform. He worked as director engineering at Tesla for two years until mid 2019 before joining Google’s Android Automotive project.
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Lal would head a software design hub at VW’s Cariad unit to roll out a new software platform for future electric models. The hub’s output would first be applied to two vehicle projects for Audi and VW but then form the basis for using the software architecture across VW Group brands.
Bloomberg noted VW CEO Oliver Blume had been taking steps to tackle the problems holding the carmaker back from being competitive in the fast changing EV sector including clumsy software development, inefficiencies at the VW brand and slowing sales in China.
