BERLIN, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Volkswagen has

extended its 'factory cloud' partnership with Amazon Web

Services by another five years, the German carmaker said on

Thursday, as it rolls out the use of artificial intelligence to

improve production and reduce costs.

The company partnered with the cloud computing services unit

of Amazon.com ( AMZN ) to create a digital production platform,

or DPP, which Volkswagen says is already used in 43 locations in

Europe, North America and South America.

Globally, Volkswagen has over 114 production sites.

"Our ambition is to become a global technology driver for

the automotive industry. To this end, we are consistently

digitising and networking our company in all areas," Hauke

Stars, Volkwagen's chief executive for IT, said in a statement.

Volkswagen factories connected to the cloud platform can

operate more efficiently, for example by optimising the

interaction of complex processes in vehicle assembly, the

statement said.

The company, which is undergoing a major overhaul to cut

costs, estimates group-wide savings in the tens of millions of

euros as a result of these systems in the medium term.