① According to the report, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will call for cooperation among automobile manufacturers in an upcoming digital transformation strategy for the automotive industry; ② If Japanese automakers each develop their own SDVs, then there will be different product specifications, and the cost and development time may also surge.
Finance Association, May 17 (Editor: Zhao Hao) According to media reports, major Japanese automakers such as Toyota, Nissan, and Honda will cooperate to jointly develop next-generation automotive software to gather their expertise in generative artificial intelligence, semiconductors, etc.
According to the report, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will call for cooperation among automobile manufacturers in an upcoming digital transformation strategy for the automobile industry, as a path for the development of next-generation automobiles this decade (to 2030).
Car companies will sign strategic agreements to initiate cooperation and jointly explore cost reduction solutions in the fiercely competitive digital competition.
This strategy will focus on “software-defined vehicles” (SDV), that is, the concept of improving automobiles through software rather than hardware such as engines or parts. SDV can also update and provide service projects through OTA, which is expected to significantly improve the safety and convenience functions of vehicles.
This also means that some car problems can be solved by updating software, similar to smartphones. Looking at it now, building a new smart car ecosystem is becoming a new consensus for the development of the global automobile industry. On the other hand, the automotive software business will also become an important part of car companies' profits.
Some electric vehicles sold on the market by Tesla and other companies already have these capabilities. With the evolution of semiconductor and artificial intelligence technology, other car manufacturers are also exploring how to ensure that their vehicles are globally competitive under this trend. Toyota, Nissan, etc. are already planning to launch SDVs from 2025.
Earlier this week, Honda and IBM signed a memorandum of understanding. The two sides will jointly develop semiconductor chips and software technology for future SDVs over a long period of time. According to the memorandum of understanding, it is expected that from 2030, the accelerated promotion and application of intelligent and artificial intelligence technology will create new opportunities for the development of “software-defined vehicles”.
According to the latest report, in order to support development and market expansion, the Japanese government is encouraging automakers to cooperate in seven fields, namely chips, application programming interfaces for connecting vehicle software and systems, virtual simulation, generative artificial intelligence that enables self-inspection of cars, security measures against cyber attacks, high-frequency high-precision 3D maps for autonomous driving, and technology for measuring the distance between vehicles and objects or pedestrians.
If Japanese automakers each develop their own SDVs, there will be different product specifications, and costs and development times may also skyrocket. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry calls on car companies to standardize in at least these seven fields, and the operating systems used in vehicles can be independently developed by each company.
According to media analysis, if SDV technology becomes more popular in Japan, car companies will also be able to earn revenue from software updates, not just car sales. However, if automotive software development lags behind, related industries such as parts and materials may be hit hard.