China Speed in the Automotive Industry – How Can We Keep Up? China is redefining the pace of development in the automotive industry. AEK 2025 shows the structures, technologies, and strategies Chinese manufacturers are using to set standards in SDV and the implications for Europe. Sabine Synkule
What Car Manufacturers Expect from the Chief AI Officer After the CDO comes the CAIO. In the executive suites of car manufacturers like Mercedes or GM, there are now AI directors who are supposed to transform processes and culture across the company. But the pressure to succeed is high - the CAIO must deliver, and quickly. Yannick Tiedemann
How Continental Rethinks Software Security How do data-driven decisions, new partnership models, and a revised understanding of security shape the transformation in the realm of software-defined vehicles? Jeremy McClain, Continental Autonomous Mobility, provides answers in the interview. Dr. Martin Large
Volkswagen wants to democratise AI – and save billions To what extent can the use of AI offer a new perspective to struggling car manufacturers? Europe's largest OEM is focusing on an AI offensive and a 'Large Industry Model'. Recently, a dedicated AI Lab has been established. What does the overall strategy look like? Timo Gilgen
Mercedes Vehicles to Become Mobile Offices Mercedes-Benz expands Microsoft integration in vehicles: Teams meetings with camera, Intune for secure business use, and Copilot API for AI-powered productivity aim to attract business customers. Timo Gilgen
This is how Bosch aims to shorten development times Bosch and ETAS want to significantly shorten the path to the software-defined vehicle as part of a joint development project. The initiative made it to the shortlist of the IT Team Awards by automotiveIT last year. Yannick Tiedemann
The Future of Artificial Intelligence in the Automotive Industry At the AUTOMOBIL-ELEKTRONIK Kongress 2025, AI was one of the central topics and appeared in many forms: as a driver of technical innovation, as a risk, and as a key to new vehicle concepts. What the speakers said about the topic. Dr. Martin Large
“A fundamental shift is required” SDV adoption requires deep structural change. Dr Matthias Traub, President and Managing Director at Vector Informatik, explains how OEMs can overcome key hurdles and benefit from strategic platform partnerships. Benjamin Müller
How Vehicle Connectivity Becomes a Business Model Who pays for connectivity in the connected car? OEMs are striving for an appropriate and profitable answer. Providing a solid subscription model with all its associated complexities is anything but simple. Nicole Ahner
Is AI a Curse or a Blessing for Cybersecurity? While AI offers potential for risk detection, it also increases the range of cyber threats. We explain why the connected car is so vulnerable to digital attacks and whether AI is more of an opportunity or a risk for cybersecurity. Ronja Schmiedchen
Why VW Fails with Cariad: Analysis and Learnings Cariad was supposed to be VW's answer to Tesla – but instead a cumbersome colossus emerged. Philipp Raasch (The Autopreneur) provides deeper insights into the causes of the failure and shows what can be learned from it. Dr. Martin Large
AEK 2025: SDV, AI & Mega-Alliances in Focus The AUTOMOBIL-ELEKTRONIK Kongress 2025 has highlighted key challenges and future topics of the automotive industry – from AI to SDV to new partnerships. Here are five topics that shaped the event. Dr. Martin Large
Firefly relies on map data and services from Here Nio's more affordable sub-brand Firefly will soon be supplied by Here with map data and location-based services for electric vehicles and driver assistance systems. Here aims to strengthen its presence in China, while Nio aims to strengthen its presence in Europe. Benjamin Müller
ZF launches Smart Chassis Sensor in Cadillac Celestiq ZF equips Smart Chassis Sensor for Cadillac’s all-electric flagship Celestiq. It is permanently integrated into the ball joints of all four-wheel suspensions and determines the vehicle's ride height. Smart algorithms generate information from it. Benjamin Müller
When the IoT Becomes the Weakness The use of more sensors, IoT devices, and OTA updates simultaneously creates increasingly risky security vulnerabilities. From the perspective of cybersecurity experts, it is almost impossible to prevent more serious consequences in the long term. Daniela Hoffmann
“The new iDrive system epitomizes the concept of a software-defined vehicle” At AEK 2025, Stephan Durach presented BMW’s Panoramic iDrive. In this interview, he explains how shy-tech controls, head-up projection, and a customizable interface redefine human-machine interaction in the software-defined cockpit. Benjamin Müller
Automotive Industry Collaborates More Closely on Software Development Eleven renowned OEMs and suppliers have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate more closely on non-differentiating vehicle software in the coming years. A first open-source-based core stack is expected to be available by 2026. Yannick Tiedemann
Live Ticker for the Automobil-Elektronik Kongress 2025 (AEK) On 24th and 25th June, the Automobil-Elektronik Kongress 2025 took place in Ludwigsburg. Industry decision-makers discussed developments in automotive electronics, SDV, and AI. Here you’ll find a chronological overview of what happened. Benjamin Müller
These are the data architectures BMW and Kuka rely on The use of GenAI accelerates the availability of information. However, it also requires a different data quality and availability. Only in this way can AI knowledge systems be created on one's own data that do not hallucinate. Daniela Hoffmann
“Global OEMs are under pressure” “Speed of change” is the most critical KPI in SDV strategy, says Anup Sable—because innovation must be fast, efficient, and scalable to succeed in the global race. As CTO of KPIT, he is one of this year’s AEK speakers, whom we interviewed ahead of the conference. Benjamin Müller
“Edge computing is not a nice-to-have - it’s the only path forward” Compute power, platform strategy, edge intelligence - the future of autonomous mobility begins inside the vehicle. That’s the conviction of Salil Raje, SVP of AMD. Ahead of his talk at the Automobil Elektronik Kongress 2025, we asked him three key questions on this topic cluster. Benjamin Müller
What’s ahead at the Automobil-Elektronik Kongress 2025? On 24 June, it's finally that time again: Decision-makers in the fields of electricity, electronics, and software in cars will meet in Ludwigsburg for the Automobil-Elektronik Kongress, the annual networking event of the industry. Sabine Synkule
“The future belongs to a holistic UX/UI concept” As Product Experience Director Europe at NIO, Benjamin Steinmetz contributed to the 2025 Automotive Software Strategies Conference in Munich. We took the opportunity to speak with him and ask three key questions. Benjamin Müller
“Collaboration models between OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers are frequently underdeveloped” In the lead-up to the 6th International Automotive Software Strategies Conference, we asked Augustin Friedel, Senior Manager SDV at MHP Management, three questions. The event will take place on 21 and 22 May 2025 in Munich, and Friedel is one of the speakers. Benjamin Müller
These are the Strategies for the Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) It is now important to consider Software-Defined Vehicles (SDV) more holistically. After all, completely new business models are associated with them. Who is adopting which strategy? Andrea Hoffmann-Topp
Why interoperability matters in automotive functional safety AI-driven vehicles demand more than just fault tolerance or diagnostic checks. They require interoperability: between layers, between domains, and across lifecycles. At the Automotive Computing Conference 2025, Jyotika Athavale, Director at IEEE and Synopsys, made a clear case for embedding interoperability into the DNA of automotive systems. Benjamin Müller
Is intelligent positioning the next leap in vehicle navigation? Global navigation satellite systems like GPS have powered modern mobility for decades—but their limitations are becoming increasingly evident. At the Automotive Computing Conference 2025 in Detroit, Brett Harrison, President & Co-Founder of Tern AI, presented a case for moving beyond conventional trilateration. His company’s approach: a robust, vehicle-integrated positioning system that does not rely on satellites at all. Benjamin Müller
How ARM optimises in-vehicle AI processing As automotive OEMs seek to embed advanced AI-driven functionalities in vehicles, they encounter a familiar challenge: how can these workloads be processed efficiently using the constrained compute resources already embedded in cars? At the Automotive Computing Conference 2025 in Detroit, Robert Day, Director Automotive GTM at Arm Inc., provided practical insights into this question. Benjamin Müller
“Many SDV programmes fail due to old structures” High-tech alone is not enough. The transition to a software-defined vehicle exposes decades-old misconceptions. Joachim Langenwalter reveals why European manufacturers are operating blindly - and what China has long been doing better, with painful insights. Dr. Martin Large
Infineon acquires Marvell's automotive ethernet division With the planned acquisition of Marvell's automotive ethernet business for 2.5 billion US dollars, Infineon strengthens its position in the automotive market and focuses on pioneering connectivity solutions for software-defined vehicles. Nicole Ahner
All Information on the 13th Automotive Wire Harness Congress The wiring systems industry is undergoing extreme changes: There are software updates instead of cables, 800-volt technology instead of standard power, and many more changes... At the Automotive Wire Harness 2025, you can see who is leading the way. What can participants expect? Dr. Martin Large
What's Behind BMW's Heart of Joy? The heart of BMW's Neue Klasse is set to bring a new joy of driving. The fundamental idea is based on four high-performance computers - the Heart of Joy is one of them. Can the Munich team also convince petrolheads with this? Thomas Geiger
