Volkswagen Group China now has a permit to test Level 3 autonomous driving on public roads in Hefei, and it says testing is already underway. The permit also covers large-scale driving data collection in the city.
📌 The Core Development
It’s the latest step toward VW’s goal of L3 technology readiness in China by 2027. And the timing is good as the group holds its first China Technology Day in Hefei on Wednesday.
VW says the permit was issued under China’s strictest L3 framework and that its setup meets the country’s latest mandatory safety design standards. It didn’t say which authority issued it, how many vehicles are in the fleet, or which roads they can use.
🔍 Background & Sector Context
Hefei makes sense as a base. It’s home to the Volkswagen China Technology Company (VCTC), the group’s largest R&D center outside Germany, and to its Volkswagen Anhui production site.
The software comes from CARIZON, VW’s intelligent driving unit in China, which started as a joint venture between CARIAD and Horizon Robotics. Its driver assistance system is called Hyper Sense 8 (HS8), which VW describes as its first “full-scenario” ADAS.
📊 Industry & Real-World Impact
Behind it is GAIA 2.0, a world model VW built itself. VW says it runs simulation equal to 5 million km of safety testing per day, using about 30 million real-road scenario clips, and it wants to get that to 10 million km per day. VW is also developing its own system-on-chip, the C7H, which it says can support up to Level 4.
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🔮 Strategic Outlook & What Lies Ahead
Ralf Brandstätter, chairman and CEO of Volkswagen Group China, kept the message on safety. He said the group “will never advance technology at the cost of safety” and called the permit an important step on the road to L3 readiness (our translation from Chinese).
This is a road test permit. VW can’t sell L3 cars to customers with it.
