German President Tests Volkswagen-Horizon Intelligent Driving Tech in China

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife experienced Volkswagen's intelligent driving technology firsthand during a state visit to China on October 27, touring Volkswagen (China) Technology Co., Ltd. in Hefei, Anhui province.

Yu Kai, founder and CEO of Horizon Robotics, presented the progress of the cooperation between Horizon and Volkswagen in smart driving. The president and his wife rode in two Volkswagen EVs — the FAW-Volkswagen ID. AURA T6 and the SAIC-Volkswagen ID. ERA 5X — both equipped with a full-scenario driver-assistance system co-developed by Coremotion, the joint venture between Volkswagen and Horizon.

Coremotion's System Powers Seven New Models

The driver-assistance solution is built on Horizon's Journey 6H chip and the HSD AI foundation model. Since the third quarter of 2026, Coremotion's advanced driver-assistance system has been rolling out across seven new electrified models from Volkswagen's three joint ventures in China.

In July 2026, Volkswagen and Horizon announced an expansion of their cooperation into AI foundation models, aiming to accelerate the path toward L3 and L4 autonomous driving.

The partnership traces back to 2022, when the two companies first agreed to collaborate on intelligent driving, followed by the establishment of Coremotion in 2023.

Horizon founder Yu Kai shared on Weibo that he was pleased to meet President Steinmeier and introduce the productive cooperation between Horizon and the Volkswagen Group, calling it a successful example of Chinese technology meeting German engineering.

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