3 6
p a g e s
3 6 – 6 0
Solutions for a New Age of Driving
AVL Facts in a Nutshell
• 40+ Software Product Titles
• 100+ Data Engineers and Scientists
• 3,000 Software Experts and Engineers
• 6,500 Testbed Automation Systems
• 20+ Software Development and Support Centers
SPECIAL:
SOFTWA R E
Tackling tomorrow’s
challenges today
A popular card game among
youngsters is Car Quartet. Created
in the late 1970s, the player whose
card featured the car with the most
powerful engine, the best acceleration
or the highest top speed won
the game.
In the 2020s, however, the key
characteristics of a winning car are
not so easy to categorize. Performance
is no longer defined simply
by what is under the hood, but is also
about functions such as connectivity,
ADAS and security. Drivers
expect vehicles to behave in a similar
way to smartphones, with new
functions and apps available over
the air, and seamless integration
with other devices such as mobile
phones and entertainment systems.
Welcome to the age of the softwaredefined
vehicle. While this does not
mean that mechanics and hardware
are no longer of vital importance,
attention is increasingly shifting to
electrical and electronic components
and software. With an average
of over 200 million lines of
code, a modern car has more software
inside it than a Boeing 787.
With 80 to 100 control units, from
engine management and gears, to
seat adjustment, air conditioning,
infotainment and ADAS, telematics,
and third-party applications,
managing these systems in the car
and in the cloud is a complex affair.
All these mini-computers need
to be consolidated into fewer units
with higher performance. This shift
is the industry’s next challenge and
is expected to bring much more
customer-relevant functionality
and intelligence.
Some OEMs are heavily investing
in their own software units
and building their own operating
systems, while some are pursuing
more collaborative approaches.
This offers a lot of space for independent
players and, as the huge
transformation of the automotive
industry that has so often been
predicted finally becomes a reality,
AVL is in the middle of it.