NXP microcontrollers to anchor Volkswagen’s new zonal architecture
Volkswagen Group has chosen NXP as a strategic technology partner for its future zonal vehicle architecture. NXP’s S32K5 family of microcontrollers will serve as a common building block across all the group’s brands and vehicle segments, and the first vehicle using the new architecture is planned for 2027.
The architecture has been developed by RV Tech, Volkswagen’s joint venture with Rivian, and will be used in both companies’ vehicles, according to a press release from Volkswagen. Instead of a separate control unit for each function, several functions are consolidated into fewer, more powerful zonal controllers. NXP’s microcontrollers will be the core processors in these controllers. They connect sensors and actuators in different parts of the vehicle and manage functions such as lighting, body, comfort, chassis and safety systems. The heavier computing, for automated driving and infotainment for example, is handled by separate central high-performance processors.
The partnership is part of Volkswagen’s wider semiconductor strategy, which relies on direct, long-term partnerships with chipmakers to secure supply and help shape the technology for future vehicle generations.
“Our partnership with NXP is another step in this journey, showing how Volkswagen Group is taking a more active role in the semiconductor value chain: defining our technology needs early, leveraging our scale across brands and creating greater long-term planning certainty for both sides,” says Karsten Schnake, the Volkswagen brand board member responsible for procurement.
For NXP, the deal makes the S32K5 a standard component across one of the world’s largest carmakers.
“As a core processor for the vehicle’s zonal controllers, S32K5 is built for safe real-time compute, fast and secure OTA updates and the consolidation of functions that together create a basis for a flexible, continuously updateable vehicle,” says Lars Reger, Executive Vice President and CTO at NXP.
The companies have not disclosed volumes or the value of the agreement.
