VW group until recently believed in progress through internal competition, and VW and Audi were the main drivers of this philosophy, but since few years ago VW

VW group until recently believed in progress through internal competition, and VW and Audi were the main drivers of this philosophy, but since few years ago VW group announced that they will stop with this and focus on common development across brands. This was most likely done to minimize the automotive crisis impact that was anticipated even without Covid in sight. Audi saying they will not be doing further development, basically doesn't say much in light of this change. Could be more of a marketing thing in the end, or maybe to put some pressure on EU regulations... Generally VW is doing a poor job at transitioning to EV and "connected" vehicles (just take a look at some reviews of ID.4, or issues latest Golf model has) and they do need to put a bigger focus there.