Welcome to the 2nd Annual Software-Defined Vehicles Europe 2024 conference, a pivotal gathering for automotive companies directing what is being called ‘the biggest transformation in a 100-year-old automotive industry’ and a ‘fundamental shift in how the entire vehicle is designed’.

Vehicles as we’ve known them are getting overhauled and are changing completely. SDVs are a continuously evolving market and a path every OEM has to take to get to a point where they can design and deliver improved products that are repeatable, upgradable, and remotely updatable. To some industry experts and visionaries, ‘SDVs are fundamental for any OEM to survive in the market and for the future of vehicles.’

But what is driving mainstream OEM interest in SDV right now? Firstly, consumer perception is changing; OEMs recognise that they have to meet the customer’s needs and give them new experiences, instead of building vehicles that are not going to stay relevant and letting the competition take over. Hardware costs are constantly rising; what was a hardware-driven market is becoming a software-driven market pretty quickly. And there is a new opportunity to open revenue streams through the monetisation of data and subscription features. In a nutshell, the biggest motivators for SDV advancement are reducing development cycles, generating revenue, saving money, launching with improvement, and not having the fear of missing out and following market leaders.

While the industry is working hard towards these goals and we are beginning to see early versions of SDVs, this is a long journey with many challenges and a steep learning curve that the industry will need to go through.