Connectivity

As the dynamics of the industry become ever more turbulent, and the pressure on companies to innovate and transform increases, the nature of relationships is changing. Traditional development processes and supply chains are no longer barriers to entry but in fact competitive weaknesses. New thinking, skill sets, technologies, processes and tools require new partners.

As a result the relationship map is changing rapidly and the shape of the industry and who will emerge as key players is in dynamic flux. Steve Bell will present the development of current relationships, what’s influencing them and future trends.

Vehicle interiors will begin a historic transformation in the next three years. Instrument panels will be dramatically redesigned to keep driver eyes focused on the road and not looking down at center-stack touch screens.

The flat floors of electric vehicle interiors (which do not have intrusive transmission tunnels) will give designers more freedom than ever. New safety regulations will require sophisticated cabin sensors to detect impaired drivers and children left behind in hot cars.

Join Drew Winter to learn more.

The Wards Intelligence 2022 software-defined vehicle survey underscores the insights of key players in the industry, emphasizing the pivotal role of SDVs in shaping the future of the automotive industry. 

Hyundai dips its toes into in-vehicle payments with the launch of Hyundai Pay. It debuts with the ability to reserve parking but other features, such as paying for battery-electric-vehicle charging sessions, may be to come.

This tracker looks at the Digital Economy Market in 2023 as automakers look to monetize software through subscription fees for additional features and services. The subscription market in automotive could include not only the roughly 100 million new vehicles sold globally on an annual basis, but also vehicles already in operation that are software defined and have 4G or 5G connectivity. Selected subscription services, technologies, and market outlook are presented along with results of Wards Intelligence Digital Economy and Software Defined Vehicle Survey. 

Software-defined-vehicle platform adoption advances slowly within the automotive industry, reflecting the intricate and profound nature of this transformative shift. In this report, Wards Intelligence delves into the challenges and prospects that lie ahead for the industry, drawing insights from the Wards Intelligence 2023 SDV survey.

Designing instrument panels that allow drivers to use their phones to take the place of expensive cockpit screens, head units and CPUs could make vehicles more affordable. The strategy already is in production in Europe and a Wards Intelligence North American industry survey shows the concept could be widely adopted. Many hurdles remain, but those who ignore this trend do so at their peril. India now is the world’s third-largest automotive market, and it is almost 100% entry-level vehicles.

Wards Intelligence meticulously evaluated and ranked the advancements of 22 automakers in their transition toward software-defined vehicles, offering a comprehensive snapshot of automakers' existing technical expertise and achievements within the realm of SDVs.

This comprehensive report looks at the connected car landscape exploring the impact of 5G, new architectures and the ascendancy of eSIMs as the OEM and CSP relationships develop.

In 2019, Mercedes-Benz and Geely partnered to revamp the strategy of Smart, with a shift in focus solely from microcars to the wider BEV segment. Since then, Smart has developed new software, vehicle platforms and organizational processes from scratch, laying the groundwork to compete in the software-defined vehicle era, and is ready to launch its second compact BEV model in Europe.

This tracker looks at cabin monitoring and the emerging technologies being developed to keep driver and occupants safe and comfortable. Also includes upcoming Euro NCAP and NHTSA rules for child presence detection and driver impairment detection, a list of cabin monitoring system suppliers, and recent survey results covering cabin monitoring technology acceptance.  

Nissan has implemented a platform that leverages Aras Innovator to manage in-vehicle software variants. As a result, it has achieved a streamlined software-development process for new applications while significantly reducing the need for extensive coding efforts.