‘The future truck is fully connected’

Volkswagen’s truck division will invest just under £400m in the next four years in heavy goods vehicles.

The manufacturer said yesterday the money would be used to improve automated connectivity after demonstrating the feasibility of platooning, in which a convoy of semi-automated trucks follow a human-driven truck, at an even in Munich.

It believes platooning could help reduce diesel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in road freight by up to 10 per cent.

‘The future truck is fully connected, that provides a gain in safety and efficiency,’ said VW trucks’ chief Andreas Renschler.

VW will spend a ‘mid-range three-digit million-euro amount’ over the next five years on automated features as it aims to improve communication of on-board sensors with automatic braking and other systems as part of the Group’s bid to reposition itself as a clean company following the emissions scandal.

However, Andreas warned that infrastructure would also need to improve to keep up with technology.

He said, ‘In future it will no longer be enough to build roads and repair bridges. What we need as quickly as possible is mobile high-speed Internet alongside the road.’