Yes, we know that Thanksgiving is over, but the date also coincided with a decade of Park Assist, which Volkswagen says it was the first carmaker to offer in 2006 on the Touran.
However, we’re pretty sure that Toyota offered their own automatic parking system earlier than VW – at least in Japan, in the beginning of the new millennium.
For VW, it all started in the early 2000s, when the brand’s engineers were given the task to come up with a system that helps drivers squeeze into tight parking spaces, although the term ‘tight’ meant the length of the car and an additional 1.40m (55.12 in) in the 1.0 version.
Dubbed ‘Park Assist’, the first iteration of the system was only able to parallel park, with a maximum of two moves, but the parking assistant was upgraded in 2010, and it became more quickly to operate. Two years later, the Germans introduced the option of parking at right-angles, and thanks to the use of better algorithms, the 12 ultrasonic sensors allowed the cars to decrease the previous 1.40 meters (55.12 in) in length to 90 cm (35.43 in).
Last year, the third generation of the system was presented, and the length went down again, to 80 cm (31.5 in). Additionally, an ’emergency brake’ was added as well, which cannot completely eliminate parking accidents, but promises to minimize the damage. The technology is not only available in the Golf, CC, Passat, Sharan, Touran, and Tiguan, but also on the Caddy and Crafter commercial vehicles, and it will continue to be developed furthermore, allowing drivers to operate the pedals and gear shifter, while the car takes control of the steering.
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