German car makers and automotive systems suppliers will together address the lack of common standards that is putting the brakes on progress in vehicle electronics, according to Automotive News Europe.
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BMW, DaimlerChrysler and Volkswagen will co-operate with suppliers Bosch, Continental and Siemens jointly to develop and commercially release a standardised electrical/electronic (E/E) architecture concept.
The companies say they are not aiming at exclusivity and want to draw “third parties” into development agreements.
The initiative could put Germany’s motor industry in a dominant position as E/E – which some experts say already accounts for 40% of the modern car by value – features more and more in vehicle manufacture and operation.
But importantly the new partnership, named AUTOSAR (AUTomotive Open System Architecture), could provide a much-needed answer to the arbitrary and often jealously guarded developments in E/E, which have resulted in widespread incompatibility between old and new equipment and between systems from different sources.
The AUTOSAR initiative will cover body electronics, powertrain, chassis and safety as well as multimedia systems, telematics and man-machine interface.
The absence of discipline in E/E development has resulted in growing industry uncertainty over innovation take-up, extra manufacturing costs and risk-taking, and growing public dissatisfaction that expensive equipment is non-transferable and obsolescent the moment it is purchased.
