Volkswagen CFO: Next-generation software platform to come towards...

BERLIN, May 11 (Reuters) - Volkswagen software unit Cariad will likely bring its next generation 2.0 platform to market towards 2027 or 2028, its chief financial officer said at a Financial Times conference on Thursday.

The software would enable so-called Level 4 autonomous driving and was due to be implemented across the fleet from 2026 but its development has suffered delays.

Arno Antlitz said the company first wanted to concentrate on the version of the platform that will be implemented from next year in premium electric models like the e-Macan and Audi Q6 e-tron.

"There will be great cars on that platform... that gives us a little flexibility to postpone to 2027, 2028," he added, confirming a Reuters report last year that the platform would be pushed back to the end of the decade.

Volkswagen earlier this week appointed Bentley production chief Peter Bosch to lead Cariad, which has been dogged by delays and overspending since it was set up by former chief executive Herbert Diess.

"This will be a very strong team that focuses on the turnaround of Cariad," Antlitz said on Thursday, adding that the aim was to rely more on outside partners and do less in-house to reduce cash burn as the carmaker attempts to build up its software expertise.

Volkswagen's ultimate goal is a unified software and electronics architecture for all VW group vehicles.

It will rely on Qualcomm "system on a chip" semiconductors in Europe and North America, and in China will use super-chips developed with Chinese partner Horizon Robotics. (Reporting by Victoria Waldersee; editing by Matthias Williams and Rachel More, Kirsten Donovan)