A coffee with Johannes Neft from ŠKODA

Yes, hello. I am responsible at Skoda for the entire scope of development and research. We develop all body scopes for Skoda and also for other Volkswagen brands. For example, we developed the current Passat. We are also responsible for individual modules and will soon take over an important engine module family for the global group. We also handle markets like India and ASEAN, developing vehicles for the group.

Yes, we have received additional tasks at Skoda, especially in technical development, but also as a brand with responsibilities for ASEAN and India. We get more and more responsibility and we try to live up to it.

Yes, that's the case. Like everyone else, we are committed to the EU's sustainability goals and we believe in electrification. The Enyaq and Enyaq Coupé are our first models. We will add more models and also aim to offer BEVs in the A0 segment. Electrification is an opportunity for the brand to reach new target groups. In India, for example, electrification is accelerating faster than expected due to low electricity costs and total cost of ownership. We are working on a concept for India, but we cannot simply transfer European technology one-to-one. It's still under development.

Yes, a lot has changed. Initially, laws played a big role, but now we see sustainability as our own obligation. We have built a new engine test center that uses waste heat and even uses connected gearboxes as electricity generators. We install more photovoltaics, reduce gas heating, green facades. These are small things but show that sustainability thinking goes beyond the product. The big topics are the electric vehicles themselves, which allow us to use sustainable energy and improve the CO2 balance.

Yes. Development leaps are accelerating. It's not just the drivetrain transforming, but also digitalization in the vehicle, functions. We are going through an extreme transformation. Before, we developed hardware, component-oriented. A designer could mostly develop a part alone. Now we are in a world of functions, especially with electric vehicles that have many new functions like charging. Developing a function requires multiple people, sometimes across departments. When we move to autonomous driving, we will develop systems that require cross-departmental collaboration. To go from hardware to functions to systems, we need new processes, IT tools, and competencies. So yes, it's a gold rush. It's super exciting for tech enthusiasts, but it's also a huge mountain of work, additional qualification for employees, and many new processes to install. So we have a lot to do.

We definitely need new competencies, different ones. But we must not lose what we are good at as an established OEM: good chassis, steering, efficient body structures, and simply clever ideas driven by hardware. We need to extend that spirit into functional ideas. For example, a dog mode in vehicles, using sensor functions to generate additional helpful ideas. For that, we need new competencies and a different spirit, not changing it but expanding it. We need to work more agilely and faster, especially for software functions. We cannot use the same development process as for hardware. Software needs daily sprints and loops. We are learning that and are making progress. It's a huge challenge for all established OEMs, not just Volkswagen Group.

Yes, it offers new opportunities. We need to take the functions we developed in the car and bring them into connectivity. For example, everyone expects to control the auxiliary heater via a car app, or unlock doors. We need to bring these functionalities into an app that works seamlessly from phone to iPad, up to ordering the vehicle. It's a huge bandwidth we are working on.

Yes, thank you too.