Customers

The protection of road users and the safety of our customers are a focus of the Volkswagen Group.

Material impacts and their interaction with strategy and business model

The impacts analyzed during the materiality assessment relate in particular to protecting people’s health in the context of the vehicle. Here the term “customers” consolidates both consumers and (end-) users within the meaning of the ESRS. The groups considered include vehicle drivers and passengers. Beyond this, the focus is also extended to the protection of vulnerable road users, such as cyclists, pedestrians and other persons who could potentially be involved in accidents. Various user and occupant groups were considered during the evaluation of these impacts. During this process, particular attention is paid to examining whether certain groups have special requirements that need to be taken into account.

When participating in road traffic, it is fundamentally possible for users of vehicles from all manufacturers to be involved in accidents which could result in adverse health effects. The Volkswagen Group is aware of its responsibility and is constantly working to avoid accidents and mitigate the consequences thereof.

Interaction with strategy and business model

The impacts identified in the materiality assessment directly affect the Volkswagen Group’s business model, strategic development and value chain. At an overarching level, the topic of vehicle safety is embedded in the Group-wide safety strategy, which revolves around the safety of customers around the world. For the purpose of coordinating safety-relevant issues, the Group has set up the cross-brand Safety System Working Group (Arbeitskreis Sicherheitssystem – AKS); this group defines Group-wide requirements and supervises their implementation.

The Volkswagen Group also employs specific actions related to its customers as part of its response to the impacts on its business model, strategy and value chain identified during the materiality assessment.

The objective here is to continue reinforcing the positive impacts in the area of personal safety by issuing internal safety requirements and by implementing cutting-edge safety technology on a consistent basis. The safety strategy is developed by the Safety System Working Group (AKS), who present their work to be approved by the Group Board of Management Committee responsible for Technology. The Product Safety Committee (Ausschuss Produktsicherheit – APS) is responsible for the safety of products placed on the market. A Group-wide policy concerning product safety and conformity stipulates that an APS must be established by each responsible manufacturer. It also requires the APS to be involved in any processes relevant to safety to make sure that safety-related actions are implemented across the entire Group effectively and in a uniform manner.

Specific actions in this area are described in detail in the section “Actions: Personal safety of customers”.

Policies: personal safety of customers

In order to continuously reduce the number and severity of road traffic accidents involving Group vehicles, the Volkswagen Group has established an interlinked system of management structures. These structures create a Group-wide governance policy for vehicle safety, which forms the basis for a high standard of product quality and for compliance with legal and official requirements, internal safety regulations and consumer protection requirements.

A central component of this policy is the continuous alignment with high safety standards for mechanical, mechatronic and electronic systems, as well as the functional safety of vehicles. Building on this policy, Group-wide management systems have been defined in Group policies, systematically enshrining these safety standards, applicable standards and the current state-of-the-art technology in the vehicle development, production and testing processes at the brand companies. The Group policies always take all three levels into account: legal requirements, internal safety regulations and consumer protection standards. This chapter provides detailed information on the underlying safety strategy and the relevant Group policies.

Safety strategy

In an effort to embed existing systems for vehicle safety even further into the Volkswagen Group’s overall strategic concept, a Group-wide safety strategy has been developed and approved by the Board of Management.

The goal of this strategy is to make a sustainable contribution to global road safety. These efforts are centered around reducing the number of serious injuries and fatalities resulting from accidents involving vehicles made by Group brands. In order to achieve this goal, actions to avoid accidents (active safety) and actions to minimize the consequences of accidents (passive/integral safety) are enhanced on an ongoing basis.

The safety strategy is geared towards ensuring a high level of safety for customers and other people who could potentially be involved in an accident. To achieve this, modern technology is used effectively to address internal and external safety requirements, legal provisions and consumer protection standards and implement these for each specific market. Actual and potential negative impacts on customer health and safety may arise as a result of technical deficiencies or quality issues, for example. By consistently complying with defined safety requirements, the Volkswagen Group actively counteracts these impacts. The aim behind this is to reduce the number of casualties and, at the same time, achieve an actual and potential positive impact in accordance with the materiality assessment.

Safety-related developments at Volkswagen Group brands are guided by the Group-wide safety strategy, which is tracked and further developed by bodies such as the Group’s Safety System Working Group (AKS).

Should any aspects need to be adjusted, the heads of the Safety Development departments at the respective brands review the need for an update. If necessary, the strategy is revised and refined accordingly so that a consistently high standard of safety can be ensured and all relevant requirements can be met.

Automotive Cybersecurity Management System Group policy

To counteract the risk of unauthorized access to vehicles and their digital services, the Volkswagen Group has established an Automotive Cybersecurity Management System (ACSMS) in its Group policy for this topic. The goal of this system is to tackle potential negative impacts on the health and safety of customers, particularly those resulting from the manipulation of digital vehicle functions. The increasing level of digitalization and connectivity in vehicles presents new challenges, especially in relation to the integrity and security of software-based systems. Legal provisions, such as the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s (UNECE) Regulation 155 (UN-R 155) on cybersecurity and cybersecurity management systems, set out binding requirements for vehicle and software development. These requirements have far-reaching consequences for the IT systems and overall safety architecture in modern vehicles.

To be able to manage the risk of cyberattacks on vehicles and take appropriate action to mitigate these both now and in the future, the Volkswagen Group continuously optimizes its automotive cybersecurity management systems in all Group brands. Information is exchanged across the brands to allow them to work together on developing both the process- and product-related aspects of cybersecurity. The protection of customers is always at the heart of these processes.

One of the main objectives of the ACSMS is to improve cybersecurity across the entire product life cycle of a vehicle and its digital ecosystem. As the level of digitalization and connectivity increases and new forms of mobility such as shared mobility are developed, the importance of cybersecurity grows – including in relation to the health and safety of users.

Using policies and control measures, the ACSMS defines how cybersecurity should be established, implemented and safeguarded on a permanent basis in the vehicle sector. The goal is to ensure that vehicles and their digital systems are effectively protected against unauthorized access. In each case, type approval authorities responsible for the Group brands confirmed the effectiveness of the ACSMS with corresponding certification based on external audits to verify compliance with UNECE regulation UN-R 155. During the certificate’s period of validity, monitoring audits are performed on an annual basis to ensure ongoing conformity.

The ACSMS policy applies across the Group as a minimum requirement for all controlled companies of the Volkswagen Group who request type approvals for vehicles or who have relevant interfaces with this type of company. This also encompasses any undertakings that develop or operate parts of the digital ecosystem or that provide and implement software updates for vehicles.

The Head of Group Quality Management, Digitalization and IT is responsible for defining and developing this ACSMS management policy. Within the relevant Group companies, the most senior level of management, i.e. the Board of Management or managing directors, is responsible for the policy’s implementation.

Product safety and conformity Group policy

The product safety and conformity Group policy plays a central role, particularly with regard to the personal safety of customers. It defines uniform standards that apply across the Group to enable the Volkswagen Group to meet both its legal obligations as well as its own aspirations related to its responsibility for products brought onto the market. Every applicable legal and official requirement must be complied with. Furthermore, the policy stipulates that a system be set up for active and passive product observation. The goal is for risks that could potentially arise from products to be identified at an early stage and averted to the extent that this is possible and reasonable. The Volkswagen Group companies that manufacture vehicles or have them produced and place them on the market as the responsible manufacturers are responsible for implementing the product safety and conformity Group policy. They are required to transfer the Group policy into their own regulations, such as organizational guidelines and internal standards, and ensure that these are implemented. Responsibility for the safety and conformity of products lies with the manufacturing brands and full-function companies. The board at the respective brand company delegates this responsibility to a Product Safety Committee (APS) that has already been established or still needs to be established. This committee is responsible for taking any action required to ensure the safety and conformity of products brought onto the market and for initiating this action in good time. The board at the brand or full-function company delegates these duties to a Product Safety Committee that has already been or still needs to be established at the brand or full-function company.

Commitment to human rights

Respect for human rights is of paramount importance to the Volkswagen Group. We are convinced that sustainable economic activity is only possible by acting ethically and with integrity. Within the scope of our business activities, we are fully committed to our responsibility to uphold human rights. Detailed information regarding our voluntary human rights commitments can be found under the heading “Policies: Employees and non-employees” in the chapter “Employees and Non-Employees”. The Group-wide whistleblower system is used as a format for dialogue with those who could be affected by issues and also forms the basis for introducing appropriate remedial action. A detailed description of this is provided in the “Business Conduct Information” chapter under the “Whistleblower” section.

Processes: engaging with customers

Consideration of the activities of consumer protection organizations

In an effort to better understand the interests, experiences and perspectives of users of its vehicles and take these into consideration to an appropriate extent, the Volkswagen Group works with a range of national and international consumer protection organizations at brand level. These organizations act as credible representatives of vehicle users. The AKS is responsible for any overarching coordination of cooperation with consumer protection authorities and industry associations with regard to vehicle safety matters. The Group works in cooperation with bodies such as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the China Insurance Safety Index, as well as the respective national and regional associations within the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, for instance, has regulations in place to ensure that liaison offices are in place with suitable contacts for consumer protection organizations. Responsibility for these interfacing offices is assigned to the person responsible for Global Safety Affairs within the main Safety System Development department at Volkswagen AG. The requirements resulting from this are derived and refined in close liaison with all Group brands via the AKS, which helps to make sure that all Group companies are familiar with the relevant information and takes this into account. Updates or changes to the rating process are dealt with and reported on in the AKS. As part of the ongoing enhancement of their standards, the respective NCAPs publish regular updates, which are known as roadmaps. These updates are communicated in industry meetings, e-mail notifications or publications on the respective websites. Communication with consumer protection organizations takes place on a topic- and project-related basis, with the frequency of meetings depending on the roadmap in question. Any information and requirements provided by the NCAPs form an integral part of the Volkswagen Group’s safety strategy and are integrated directly into product development. The respective processes are described in more detail under the heading “Processes: Remedial processes and reporting channels”.

The effectiveness of this cooperation can be tracked, for example, through the vehicle ratings issued by consumer protection organizations – such as the NCAP star ratings.

Cooperation on remedial processes

For customers affected by a safety-relevant matter or cybersecurity vulnerabilities, there are two additional dialogue formats that exist as part of the passive product observation process and, where required, during investigations and the implementation of appropriate action. The underlying remedial process, including dialogue formats for both cases, is described in more detailed in the section “Processes: Remedial processes and reporting channels”.

Processes: remedial processes and reporting channels

Remedial process for safety-relevant matters

Any indications of a safety-relevant matter that arise from passive or active product observation are analyzed by the divisions, for example Development or Production. A range of different factors are included in the evaluation, including the frequency of occurrence, the underlying cause of damage, the components affected and the potential relevance for other Group models.

If a matter is confirmed as being relevant to safety, the APS must become involved as per Group-wide requirements. The APS makes a decision on which actions are required and appropriate for safeguarding the safety and conformity of the products affected. These actions could include, for example, a recall campaign, a service action in a workshop, extended warranty services or a suspension of deliveries. The implementation of any action approved by the APS is initiated and coordinated by the Product Safety department. This department’s primary duties include identifying the vehicles affected, preparing and coordinating any work instructions, commissioning the stocking of replacement parts, and defining the action’s start date.

Operational responsibility for implementation depends on the type of action to be taken. In general, the actions required are referred to as field actions, which are implemented by the retail organizations and their partners. The importers are responsible for supervising and controlling this implementation process. The effectiveness of actions is recorded through both active and passive product observation. A monitoring process is also in place to systematically review the effectiveness of actions.

Any orders and actions passed by the APS are binding for all affected areas, including any Group companies involved. The APS office is responsible for monitoring that these measures are implemented on schedule.

Dialogue formats

Dialogue with customers takes place at various stages of the process. For instance, the passive product observation process takes into account any customer complaints submitted via vehicle dealerships or workshops, via social media or forums, and via the customer hotlines and customer care services operated by the respective brands. This feedback is examined during clarification of the matter and may provide an important indication of safety-relevant issues. Throughout the entire process, responsibility for communication with customers lies with the responsible departments in question, such as After Sales, Marketing and Corporate Communications. Dialogue with customers may continue while remediation is taking place in the market. Once the APS has approved an action, importers are obligated to implement it via their partners in accordance with their contractual agreements with the Volkswagen Group. As part of this process, any affected vehicle owners are informed about the steps needed to rectify the potential safety issue by post, for example, or in a direct consultation during a workshop visit. Such an action may involve having a faulty component replaced at the workshop, for example.

Remedial process for cybersecurity matters

Customers are able to contact dealerships with any concerns related to cybersecurity. Dealerships record complaints of this nature and forward them to the relevant brand via the importer in question if necessary. Structured processes are in place at the brands with the aim of ensuring that incoming reports are passed on to the responsible Incident Management department. If this department defines and initiates any actions to rectify the problem, the remedial processes outlined by the APS take effect for any field campaigns. In the event of product-related amendments, standardized workflows from the development process are applied, including testing and quality assurance actions. Review mechanisms have been established to make sure that issues are dealt with correctly within the support structure. Based on the findings obtained, processes and the support structure can be adjusted as required. To support the effective handling of safety-relevant incidents related to cybersecurity, awareness-raising actions have been established across the Group, along with training programs for importers and dealerships. The goal here is to train their employees so that they are able to respond appropriately when needed. Methods including practical case studies are employed to enable employees to better understand the process and comprehend its context.

Dialogue formats

Through the established Security contact point, customers and security researchers (including non-governmental organizations or private individuals) are able to report potential security vulnerabilities. They can use the following website for this purpose: https://www.volkswagen.de/de/mehr/rechtliches/kontakt-cyber-security.html. Beyond this, customers also have the option to submit information on this matter via dealerships or the customer support hotline. Reports of this nature are passed on to the responsible Incident Management team via the established support structure. These teams then analyze the issue and respond with suitable actions as required.

If specific actions need to be taken by the APS, the vehicle owner concerned is notified of the necessary steps to remedy the potential security issues, which could require a software update, for example. The goal of this cooperation is to identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities at an early stage and take appropriate actions to prevent exploitation by unauthorized third parties. Operational responsibility for the car security incident process (CSI) is assigned to each brand’s Quality Assurance division. The responsible departments, such as Customer Experience or After Sales, take care of communication with the customer.

Reporting channels

Violations of product safety and type approval regulations can also be reported using the whistleblower system. Any relevant reports are integrated into the remedial process described. Details concerning the availability of the whistleblower system and the protection of whistleblowers are provided in the chapter “Business Conduct Information”. Customers are also able to contact the respective brands via e-mail or the telephone hotline if they have complaints or feedback about Volkswagen Group vehicles and services. Each brand’s website lists contact details, which can be used to submit concerns directly. Within this process, every brand is responsible for reviewing the effectiveness of their own communication channels. In the area of cybersecurity, the Volkswagen Group endeavors to identify safety-relevant vulnerabilities at an early stage and address them appropriately. It accepts reports of this nature from its customers and security researchers. Should customers identify a potential vulnerability in a product, they can report this to the brands in question via their communication channels. The clarification processes established at the brands are used to review and follow up on reports.

Safety-relevant complaints received via the brands’ reporting channels are recorded, tracked and monitored by the brands in question. In accordance with their defined processes, every brand is responsible for reviewing the effectiveness of their own communication channels. There is no Group-wide approach in place for checking whether customers are familiar with customer portals, trust these, and feel protected against potential repercussions.

Actions: personal safety of customers

In addition to the existing policies and the safety strategy, the Volkswagen Group also takes action to help keep its vehicles’ safety technology up-to-date, particularly in relation to avoiding accidents and mitigating their effects. These actions include research activities in the area of vehicle safety, processing safety-relevant issues – including under the structure of the AKS – and integrating relevant content into projects throughout the Product Development Process (PEP – Produktentwicklungsprozess). The Volkswagen Group cooperates with regional consumer protection organizations to uphold safety standards.

As a result, the Volkswagen Group generates an actual and potential positive impact on vehicle safety standards, which can influence the health of our customers by preventing accidents and mitigating their effects. Within the context of ESRS, the Volkswagen Group regards any actions designed to comply with safety requirements as actions that contribute to the prevention and remedy of any potential and actual negative impacts caused by its products. Actions that exceed the legal minimum standards are regarded as a positive contribution to vehicle safety.

Through its cooperation with consumer protection organizations and its increased internal safety requirements, the Volkswagen Group is helping to raise general vehicle safety standards, thus contributing to overall road safety. In matters related to vehicle safety, the Volkswagen Group operates at least at the level of the applicable legal requirements. Since safety issues cannot be fully ruled out in spite of all the preventive actions taken, the Volkswagen Group has established a series of measures that can be applied to vehicles already brought onto the market and provide remedial action in the event of a safety risk. Through this, the Group counteracts potential and actual negative impacts on customers’ health and safety, which can arise as a result of such vulnerabilities. In the area of cybersecurity, the Group also has the option of working with customers and security researchers, who are able to report potential vulnerabilities.

During the CSI process, reported security incidents are evaluated and resolved if necessary. Within the lessons-learned process, clarifying a particular matter may, beyond the implementation of remedial action, also impact strategic orientation, the ACSMS or product development. Incident Management has a direct link to the product development process here, enabling relevant findings to be integrated directly into the development of future products.

Dialogue takes place on an ad-hoc basis during the evaluation process. Through active and passive product observation, vehicles already brought onto the market are monitored for product risks. The APS is responsible for deciding on which actions are required to safeguard the safety and conformity of these products.

Members of the APS are responsible for informing their divisions about the APS’ work and about any lessons learned from past incidents relevant to the division in question. The lessons-learned process enables these findings to be fed back into upstream processes, such as new product development, thereby facilitating ongoing improvements to the entire process. The AKS Group committee and the ACSMS and APS committees are responsible for defining and implementing actions related to vehicle safety and cybersecurity in the Volkswagen Group. In some cases, the brands are also responsible for implementation. Plans are in place to retain all the described actions in the future.

Actions related to the safety strategy

The following actions related to the safety strategy are intended to effectively manage both negative and positive impacts on the safety of our customers in the area of product development. The Volkswagen Group works with various external partners in this context, such as consumer protection organizations, suppliers, research institutions and other relevant stakeholders in the area of vehicle safety. In addition to this, there is a close working relationship between the relevant internal divisions, such as Development, Quality Assurance, Legal and other units involved in this work.

Safety Working Group

The cross-Group Safety System Working Group (AKS – Arbeitskreis Sicherheitssystem) deals with the coordination and definition of the cross-brand safety requirements defined in the safety strategy. The committee consists of representatives from brand development departments who work on safety-relevant technology and various additional participants depending on the agenda. The committee focuses on the following matters and tasks in particular:

• Definition and coordination of safety requirements for all aspects related to integral safety (including active and passive safety and pre- and post-crash safety) and their allocation to topic-specific interface areas and the responsible organizational units within the brands’ development divisions
• Liaison with consumer protection organizations, particularly regarding the stance on new requirements and the development and coordination of new consumer protection regulations
• Identification and coordination of pre-development, component development and function development work at global level
• Coordination and tracking of research on all topics related to integral safety

The committee meetings, which tend to be quarterly, and the content dealt with in these meetings form a central element in the implementation of the safety strategy. Since both external and internal safety and consumer protection regulations are developed here, they contribute directly to improving vehicle safety. Current safety-relevant issues are dealt with in topic-specific working groups and in cross-divisional, multi-disciplinary task forces, which are comprised of representatives from Product Development at the various Group brands. Issues can either be identified proactively by the working groups and put forward for addition to the AKS agenda or they can be commissioned specifically by the central AKS team.

Investigations into safety-relevant issues may be triggered by the reassessment of rating-relevant issues, the analysis of legislative changes, the testing of new safety technologies, or topic-specific analyses of the competition. There are 19 different working groups and multi-disciplinary task forces in total that deal with specific areas of safety such as child safety, pedestrian safety, electric mobility or airbags. These committees meet three to four times a year to address relevant topics and develop these further.

Meeting and implementing safety objectives

The implementation of safety objectives (internal, external and those specified by consumer protection bodies) is integrated into the Product Development Process (PEP – Produktentwicklungsprozess). Steps are defined within the PEP, which enable these objectives to be derived and defined, thereby systematically transferring the safety strategy into the product development process. The safety actions required for a new model are set out in the form of a technical product description, among other things, and communicated so that they can be implemented in the products in question. The preparation of a technical product description is an important step in the PEP. This document systematically records which legal, internal and consumer-protection-related objectives need to be met. These requirements are used as a basis for defining which forms of active and passive safety and technology need to be installed in a model.

The PEP is a Group-wide recommendation issued by the Volkswagen Group. Taking into account each company’s specific legal and organizational circumstances, it must be adapted accordingly and implemented through integration into the respective quality management system.

Group Accident Research

Like the main Safety System Development department, Group Accident Research is guided by the vision of a road traffic system without serious injuries or fatalities – within the scope of what is technically feasible. It works on research topics that are conducive to this vision.

Various aspects of vehicle safety are subject to active research. These include the safety of groups of people with different attributes, such as weight, height or age, and compatibility in different accident configurations, for instance vehicles against pedestrians or a heavy Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) against a lightweight city car. The goal is to provide context to existing research findings and use this to define specific actions. Group Accident Research either actively receives requests for research from the Development departments of the Group companies or proactively puts forward its own topics. In most cases, it deals with specific questions on safety-relevant issues that have already been raised and are brought to Accident Research. It then addresses these questions and provides a response in accordance with scientific standards. Group Accident Research is active across the brands as a Group-wide function.

Actions related to the automotive cybersecurity management system Group policy

Car security incident process

The CSI process is designed to identify the causes of security-relevant issues in a vehicle, evaluate these from a technical perspective and rectify them with suitable actions. The principles of the Automotive Cybersecurity Management System (ACMS) include the ongoing examination and monitoring of vehicles and their digital ecosystems for potential cyberthreats across their entire life cycle. In addition to this, the system is employed to assess cybersecurity risks on a continuous basis and also ensure that the Group is able to recognize and respond to cybersecurity incidents.

These principles flow into the CSI process, which is effective across all the brands. Internal sources, such as the Development division, and information from outside the Company, including from the internet or third-party reports, provide the Company with an ongoing supply of information about potential incidents. The CSI process also serves as a central driving force and coordinator between specialist the divisions involved, with the purpose of analyzing vulnerabilities and introducing appropriate action.

Risk estimates and response plans are drawn up and tracked consistently as part of the CSI process. If this work reveals that a field campaign is required, the case is handed over to the responsible APS. Methods for identification, tracking and follow-up have been developed and decision-making and control committees have been established to support implementation of the process. The process has been fully implemented and is applied across the Group. This action focuses on products already on the market and extends to all markets where Volkswagen Group products are sold. The CSI process is employed on ad-hoc basis, in other words in the event of specific incidents or reports. In contrast to this, vulnerabilities are monitored as part of a continuous process. This approach is intended to ensure that potential vulnerabilities that affect Volkswagen Group products are identified at an early stage and are not overlooked.

The workflows for initiating remedial actions are described in detail in the section “Processes: Remedial processes and reporting channels”.

Actions related to the product safety and conformity Group policy

Product observation

The Volkswagen Group has established a comprehensive product observation system, which is managed by the responsible organizational units in accordance with defined policies. This system involves both active and passive product observation actions to guarantee the safety and legal conformity of products brought onto the market. The goal here is to identify any potential safety risks at an early stage in vehicles already brought onto the market and to locate the sources of faults. As soon as a safety-relevant issue is detected or there is any other indication of noncompliance with legal and official regulations, an in-depth technical analysis is conducted straight away and, if necessary, a risk assessment is performed using the data and information recorded. Action is taken based on the findings in order to protect the people who come into contact with the product and restore the conformity of the products.

Active product observation includes the regular and independent capturing and evaluation of data and information relating to issues that may be relevant to safety. It also includes appropriate testing actions such as spot checks, the analysis of vehicle-specific mass data, and reports from market surveillance authorities. Passive product observation includes actions such as reviewing and analyzing individual safety-relevant reports from the retail organization (workshops) and importers, as well as monitoring trade press, online resources, social media and other sources for customer complaints. The extent of product observation and the scope of resulting actions are primarily determined by the level of risk in question. Due to their increased potential for risks, motor vehicles, their replacement parts and accessories are subject to particularly intensive and comprehensive monitoring when compared to other products.

Targets: personal safety of customers

The Volkswagen Group develops targets in those areas that have a connection to its strategies. No measurable, outcome-oriented targets within the meaning of the ESRS are defined in relation to vehicle safety.

The effectiveness of the policies and actions in relation to the positive and negative impacts identified through the double materiality assessment performed in the reporting year are currently not monitored.

Nevertheless, the policies and actions presented collectively contribute to the Group’s efforts to ensure road traffic safety for customers. With this, the Volkswagen Group pursues the target defined in its safety strategy. The following actions and processes are established for determining effectiveness.

Product development

Effectiveness and the ambition level are reviewed based on compliance with internal and external safety regulations and through the monitoring of vehicle ratings issued by consumer protection organizations, such as the Euro NCAP star ratings. With the technical product descriptions, specific targets for safety standards are defined even when a model is still under development. The product development process is therefore guided by these targets, among other aspects.

Group Accident Research

The effectiveness of safety technology is determined, among things, via a 24/7 on-call service, which the federal states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt use to document accidents. A close cooperation with both states’ Ministries of the Interior and Sport and the respective state police authorities forms the foundation for this approach. Vehicles that have been involved in an accident are analyzed in detail as part of the accident research process in order to evaluate the effectiveness of safety technology in use.

Furthermore, systematic evaluations are conducted with accident research data, such as national accident statistics and international accident databases, including the German In-Depth Accident Study (GIDAS) database. Both positive feedback, for example regarding actions that have been implemented successfully, and negative feedback in the form of suggested improvements are analyzed and evaluated on a regular basis. Any findings are communicated both within the responsible departments and in the AKS as well as during the Accident Research Conferenceaccident research conference, established specifically for this purpose.

Car security incident process

As part of an effectiveness assessment, checks are carried out to determine whether actions have reached the relevant areas, such as Development, and been incorporated into vehicle production. After an incident has been dealt with, the CSI committees run through a lessons-learned process if necessary to also scrutinize the CSI process itself and make improvements.