ADAS/Connected Car Special Report - December 2023 - 3

VALEO
The software-defined vehicle ecosystem as envisioned by Renault and Tier 1 supplier Valeo, which in May 2023 agreed to collaborate on
software development.
The intrigue runs deeper. In an interview with SAE
Media, Maria Anhalt, CEO at Elektrobit, the 35-year-old
developer of software products and services for the
auto industry that is an independently operated but
wholly owned subsidiary of global supplier Continental,
Anhalt maintained that the bulk of vehicle software is
non-differentiating. " We estimate that approximately
60% of the software that is in the car is something
that you're not seeing - you as an end-user, " she said.
" You're not seeing and you're not experiencing it. "
Anhalt was one of the participants in a panel
session titled " Moving Towards a Software-Defined
Vehicle " at late-April's SAE International 2023 WCX
conference in Detroit. The speakers noted a variety
of chicanes in the SDV race. Software-development
problems aren't related merely to disrupting
longstanding engineering routines. Some are based in
human nature: few people genuinely embrace change.
Before the auto sector can adapt from the
century plus of its established product-development
methods - a process all on the panel agreed
must happen to effectively create SDVs - those
in charge of the transformation must step up to
foster the systemic change. " We have to change
people first, " said Matt Jones, Ford's executive
director - tech strategy + R&A. The big teams
that historically have been engaged in vehicle
development generally don't work, he said, in the
context of software design and deployment.
ADAS/CONNECTED CAR SPECIAL REPORT
" The hardest thing in the world to do is change
human behavior, " added Stephen Rober, vicepresident
and head of advanced technology at
Stellantis. He said the traditional " top-down " style
of automotive development needs to change
to bring the agility required for engineering for
a software-centric future. A little more humility
won't hurt, either, he added. " Everybody needs
to understand they don't know everything. "
Partner approach
The conference session's panel was in virtual
agreement regarding another point of required
product-development change: automotive OEMs
and suppliers must embrace a partner mindset
to replace the traditional relationship that has for
decades been in place between automotive OEMs
and the suppliers of auto-centric components. " I
avoid the word 'supplier' - I prefer the term 'vendor,'
said Elektrobit's Anhalt during the discussion.
Anhalt said the auto sector needs to increasingly
view the software-development relationship as one
of " mutual cooperation " and that " the Tier model
is evolving. " Anhalt and Stellantis' Rober said that
development of " base " or foundational software is
what most benefits from collaborative relationships;
think of that 60% of " non-differentiating " software
Anhalt mentioned. Following that, brand- or
company-specific differentiation still can happen " on
DECEMBER 2023 3

ADAS/Connected Car Special Report - December 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ADAS/Connected Car Special Report - December 2023