Importance of Software Growing
The importance of software is continuing to increase in the automotive industry with the development of electric vehicles, autonomous driving and connected cars. Multiple hardware components and controllers used in internal combustion engine vehicles are being replaced with integrated software. For example, the control system of the Tesla Model 3 consists of four electronic control units and this simplification means a significant improvement in terms of functional and operational efficiency and cost reduction.
GM unveiled its software platform Ultifi last month. The cloud software is to control various functions of vehicles at the same time and remotely control vehicles via external devices such as smartphones. The software will be used in GM vehicles released in 2023 or later so that autonomous driving can be further improved and a number of new business models can be created.
Volkswagen unveiled its Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) for electric vehicles in July this year in order to turn itself into a software-centered mobility company. Its subsidiary Cariad is leading the development of its automotive software technology. Cariad is working on VW.OS as automotive operating system software so that every Volkswagen vehicle can be cloud-connected to the common software and personalized services for drivers can be provided based on accumulated data.
Mercedes-Benz is working with Nvidia in developing an AI computing platform for autonomous driving, software update, etc. The platform is based on Nvidia’s Orin chip and has the name of Drive AGX. Hyundai Motor Group is also cooperating with Nvidia in applying its AI-based connected car operating system to Hyundai, Kia and Genesis vehicles. The group merged its IT subsidiaries Hyundai AutoEver and Hyundai Mnsoft in April this year in order to enhance its software capabilities.