Volkswagen and Horizon Robotics Deepen Autonomous Driving Partnership: A New Model for Global-Chinese Tech Collaboration

Horizon Robotics and Volkswagen Group have officially announced an expanded strategic collaboration in advanced autonomous driving technology, centered on Horizon's comprehensive intelligent driving solution, HSD (Horizon SuperDrive™). This partnership positions HSD as a cornerstone technology platform supporting Volkswagen Group's "In China, for China" strategy, with accelerated development through CARIZON—the joint venture between CARIAD and Horizon Robotics—and subsequent deployment across Volkswagen's vehicle portfolio. This deepened collaboration in advanced autonomous driving will significantly advance Volkswagen Group's intelligent mobility development timeline while comprehensively supporting its digital transformation initiatives in China.

source: Horizon Robotics

The partnership between Volkswagen Group and Horizon Robotics, formalized in 2022, established a pioneering "joint venture plus strategic collaboration" model between international automotive manufacturers and Chinese autonomous driving technology companies. In November 2023, CARIZON was officially launched and now employs over 500 autonomous driving engineers dedicated to developing industry-leading, highly optimized full-stack solutions. Currently, CARIZON's L2+ autonomous driving system, built on Horizon's Journey 6 platform, is undergoing extensive road testing and is scheduled for market debut in 2026 with Volkswagen's new compact electric vehicle featuring the CEA architecture.

Horizon's HSD system, powered by the Journey 6P processor, delivers an exceptionally human-like driving experience through its integrated hardware-software foundation and end-to-end software architecture, providing users with superior traffic efficiency and refined driving dynamics. Whether navigating complex urban intersections, congested mixed-traffic corridors, challenging narrow-road U-turns, or intricate campus routes, HSD demonstrates seamless adaptability across diverse driving scenarios. Additionally, HSD features a premium HMI interface comparable to AAA gaming experiences, offering immersive visualization of the system's traffic environment understanding and participant behavior analysis, thereby reducing human-machine trust concerns and enhancing user experience.

China's automotive industry stands at a pivotal juncture in its intelligent transformation, with advanced autonomous driving penetration rates continuing their upward trajectory. This strategic collaboration between Horizon Robotics and Volkswagen Group in advanced autonomous driving will further integrate both companies' automotive and intelligent driving industry expertise and technological capabilities, enabling Volkswagen Group to leverage "China Speed" for intelligent innovation and transformation in the Chinese market. Moving forward, Horizon Robotics remains committed to user-centric value creation and technology innovation as core drivers, leveraging proven mass-production engineering capabilities to continue its journey toward becoming "the preferred intelligent mobility partner for domestic and international automotive manufacturers," ultimately creating safer, smarter, and more enjoyable transportation experiences for consumers.

Industry Leadership and Strategic Vision

Dr. Yu Kai, Founder and CEO of Horizon Robotics, delivered a keynote address titled "The Inflection Point: Strategic Considerations for Advanced Autonomous Driving" at a high-level forum on April 29, reviewing Horizon's transformative growth as a leading domestic autonomous driving technology company while sharing insights on industry development trends and evolving collaboration models.

source: Horizon Robotics

The Era of Universal Autonomous Driving: Horizon as the "Greatest Common Denominator"

As China's automotive sector enters the "universal autonomous driving" era, Horizon Robotics has achieved remarkable growth milestones. In 2024, the company successfully completed its Hong Kong IPO as the largest technology offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, securing a commanding 33.97% market share as the leading autonomous driving computing solution provider for domestic passenger vehicle brands—meaning "one in every three Chinese autonomous vehicles features Horizon technology." Annual revenue reached RMB 2.384 billion, representing 53.6% year-over-year growth, demonstrating robust expansion in both production scale and commercial revenue.

In 2025, multiple domestic automotive manufacturers have announced "autonomous driving democratization" strategies, accelerating the advent of the universal autonomous driving era. Dr. Yu Kai emphasized that Horizon Robotics will continue empowering automotive partners to accelerate large-scale autonomous driving solution deployment, serving as "the greatest common denominator for automotive autonomous driving democratization."

Autonomous Driving as the "Baseband" of Smart Vehicles: Open Collaboration as the Optimal Strategy

Dr. Yu Kai conceptualizes autonomous driving as the "baseband" of intelligent vehicles—essential infrastructure providing users with standardized "functional value" through safety, convenience, and comfort. The competitive advantage in "functional value" hinges on "speed over pace, superiority over inferiority"—accelerating technological development, increasing resource investment, and maintaining pace with technological iteration represents a critical challenge for all industry participants.

Regarding autonomous driving product philosophy, Dr. Yu Kai emphasized the necessity of leveraging genuinely effective data to achieve capabilities surpassing human driving: "The internet era's core was 'understanding human complexity,' while the intelligent era's core is 'approaching universal truth.' The future of autonomous driving transcends simple imitation of human driving behavior—it must pursue capabilities that exceed human performance levels."