The future driving is software, the future of software is open source

With new entrants and incumbents enlivened by technology, competition is fierce in the auto industry. Yet, it’s how carmakers respond to the digitization, electrification and automation of how we move that will define whether they still exist in a decade’s time.

Automakers can no longer afford to ignore the reality of CASE – Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electric driving – and the way it’s already reengineering the competitor landscape. The pace of change is only going accelerate.

“It’s not inconceivable that some incumbent OEMs will be out of business by 2030 or shortly after,” says Deloitte’s New Market, New Entrants, New Challenges report.

“Those that survive may face significant changes to their businesses models, with the prospect of today’s powerful OEMs acting as white label suppliers to other brands a real possibility.”

As the automotive industry enters this defining period, some observers believe the survival of a car business could simply be down to the success it has transitioning toward software development.

“Major technology leaps in autonomous driving, connectivity, electrification, and shared mobility will transform vehicle electronics and software-architecture requirements over the next ten years,” says McKinsey.

“In this new environment, software features are becoming key buying factors and differentiators.”

A hardening industry focus on software integration and digitization of customer journeys will bring significant impact across the automotive value chain.

• Supply chains and manufacturing will be digitized – enabling predictive maintenance, machine learning, and services on the shopfloor like stock picking apps and use of mobile edge devices in place of fixed PCs
• Content will be transferred to and from vehicles – with an open and secure software platform needed to develop the future of driving and new revenue streams
• A culture of innovation will become embedded – rapid development of new services will be critical to the long-term prosperity of automakers
• Cloud technology and connected platform hardware will be necessary – fast feedback loops between users and developers, continuous delivery, and improvement of software-based services will be the norm and demand high-quality dev ops, organizational software agility, and cutting-edge tools

SUSE already works with 12 of the 15 largest automotive vendors for embedded, automotive solutions. We advance autonomous driving with edge systems and networks with unmatched security, intelligent computing power, and resilient open-source development.

SUSE can help you manage edge and embedded devices from a single location. If the future of the auto sector is software, the future of this software is open source. Linux is the OS of choice for both SAP and in-car apps. At SUSE, we’re Linux specialists. One our products is the recommended Linux solutions to run SAP. We also offer the leading container management platform alongside Kubernetes distribution for edge and a Linux OS for edge.

To find out more, join us at Frankfurt’s Automotive Computing Conference where we’ll be delighted to talk about your digital transformation. You can register here.

If you would like to talk to one of our experts or discover how SUSE can enable the right kind of digital transformation for long-term success, please get in touch.