Volkswagen and diconium further expand their corporation

The Volkswagen Group and the founding shareholders of diconium have agreed on the acquisition by Volkswagen of the remaining shares in diconium.

By acquiring all of the shares in the company, Volkswagen is strengthening its capabilities in the field of digital sales solutions.

These include the development of a global online sales platform which will allow customers of all Group brands to purchase and manage digital services and on demand functions for their fully connected vehicles in the future. For this purpose, diconium will be contributing its key know-how to the Car.Software organisation of the Volkswagen Group, which is responsible for developing software for the vehicle, digital ecosystems and customer-oriented functions for sales across the Group brands. The completion of the transaction is still subject to approval by the anti-trust authorities.

The Volkswagen Group had already announced the acquisition of 49% of the shares in diconium in November 2018. By acquiring the remaining 51% of the shares, Volkswagen will lay the foundation for a stronger role of diconium in shaping the Car.Software organisation.

Under the umbrella of the Car.Software organisation, experts from diconium are developing a global online sales platform. In the future, customers of all Group brands will be able to purchase and manage digital services and on-demand functions for their fully connected vehicles via this platform. The functions will include media streaming in the car, automatic payment for refueling, battery charging and parking, as well as updates for the vehicle. In addition, the online sales platform will be linked to the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud, which is also being developed by the Car.Software organisation.

“The Volkswagen Group is committed to offering our customers a steadily growing range of innovative digital added value services which they can use conveniently and safely both directly in their cars and via their mobile devices,” said Christian Senger, Volkswagen brand Board Member responsible for Digital Car & Services and CEO of the Car.Software organisation. “The technological basis will be the uniform online sales platform which we are developing for all our brands within the Car.Software organisation. The proven expert knowledge, experience and digital culture of our colleagues from diconium will give us a significant boost in this area.”

Jürgen Stackmann, Volkswagen brand Board Member responsible for Sales and Marketing, said: “At Volkswagen, we are extending our strong traditional core business with our growing “We” ecosystem which will provide tailored digital services and mobility offerings for customers. Future-oriented skills for the expansion of our digital business activities will play a crucial role in this context. In future, we want to network vehicles, customers and our sales partners even more strongly and to create a seamless Volkswagen brand experience. In order to realise an omni-channel offering for customers, we need the e-commerce competence of strong partners like diconium.”

Teams from Volkswagen and diconium have already been working together at Volkswagen's new We Campus in Berlin since July 2019. At this location, Volkswagen intends to gradually bring together about 900 specialists for the development of mobility and digital services. In future, the We Campus will play a key role as a development center within the Car.Software organisation.

Andreas Schwend, Co-Founder and previous Co-Managing Director of diconium, said: “Following a year of successful partnership, Daniel Rebhorn and I, the founders of diconium, are very pleased to take up this unique opportunity for our company and our employees. Our brand and our DNA will be maintained. For diconium and its employees, as well as our new and existing customers, this step offers a clear new development perspective. We would like to thank Volkswagen for the opportunity of helping to shape what is currently one of the most exciting digitalisation projects.”

diconium, with headquarters in Stuttgart, was established in 1995 and is a leading specialist in the holistic development of digital business models. Its activities include strategy development and the design of the user experience (UX), as well as the implementation and operational realisation of business ideas. The core competences of diconium include the development of sales platforms for digital products and services as well as IT systems in customer management.