VW Group works council chair Daniela Cavallo previously said the two SSP models represented combined annual production volumes of more than 500,000 units.
Skoda also has significant plans for the SSP, with the successor to the Enyaq due to become the Czech brand’s first model based on the new platform. The new model is planned to be produced at Skoda’s Mladá Boleslav plant in the Czech Republic, where the existing Enyaq is built. Its timing now places it within the same period as the delayed A4 EV, although Skoda has yet to confirm whether the latest changes to the SSP programme will alter its original plans.
Central to the delays to the SSP have been long-running software problems at Cariad, Volkswagen’s in-house software operation. It was originally charged with developing a common operating system and electronic architecture for SSP, including over-the-air updates and technology to support highly automated driving.
Under the original timetable, Cariad’s unified software platform was due in 2025, a year before SSP production was scheduled to begin.
Those plans have since been extensively revised. The Volkswagen Group has turned to US-based electric car maker Rivian for key elements of the electronic architecture and software for future models sold outside China, and it has hinted at the possibility of exporting its CEA architecture – used for Chinese-market cars – to other global markets.
