Europe Needs Help
China’s seemingly rapid growth in the automotive sector didn’t happen overnight. It took decades of lying in wait, and once it found its rhythm, there was no stopping the momentum. While there is a bit of a slowdown in the home market, China has been making bold moves in Asia and Europe.
With that, European automakers are playing catch-up on home turf as the Chinese nip away the market share. The speed of development has played a key role in China’s cars reaching further in the Old Continent, and it’s something the Europeans couldn’t quite match yet.
Audi
Speed Through Collaboration
Europe’s legacy car companies are well aware of that, hence opening the door for greater cooperation to fight the wave. Automotive News reports that more companies have joined the Eclipse Foundation, a major open-source software foundation, most notably Stellantis and Traton. Also part of the foundation are the German Big Three of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen Group. Suppliers are also present, namely Bosch, ZF Friedrichshafen, and Schaeffler.
The inclusion of Stellantis is a big deal given that it holds a multitude of brands. Its European brands include Peugeot, Citroën, and DS on the French side; Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Abarth, Maserati, and Lancia representing Italy; and Opel (Germany) and Vauxhall (England).
Fiat
The S-CORE Project
At the heart of The Eclipse Foundation’s automotive venture is the S-CORE project. It seeks to harmonize foundational components, enabling a more plug-and-play approach to vehicle software integration, with automakers adding their own touches and calibrations on top of the middleware. Think of it as ZF’s 8-speed transmission that’s used in a good chunk of European cars, but in software form.
It’s a novel idea that also reduces costs and speeds up development. It’s those two factors that the European automotive industry needs to keep the vehicles competitively priced and match the pace of China’s successive car launches.
Mercedes-Benz
A Double-Edged Sword
In a press release, Eclipse Foundation executive director Mike Milinkovich said, “The growing participation in this collaboration reflects a clear global shift toward open innovation in the automotive industry. Industry leaders recognize that trusted, open-source foundations are essential to delivering the next generation of safe, intelligent, and connected vehicles.” There are, however, several potential downsides to it.
Automakers may be cooperating, but no one will be willing to bare all their secrets. It’s still a competition; at the end of the day, manufacturers are also building proprietary systems to gain a distinct edge. Yes, there will be some cooperation, but it’s unlikely to be a totally open line among all those involved.
Gartner Vice President of Research Pedro Pacheco noted that the number of companies involved in the S-CORE project could end up making everyone less agile, undermining the purpose of the co-op. Peter Fintl, vice president of technology at Capgemini, told Automotive News Europe, “China is moving forward and implements instead of discussing,” which explains why the Chinese auto industry moves at such a rapid pace. It sounds good, but it presents a whole heap of problems for user experience and reliability down the line.
This whole thing puts Europe’s automakers between a rock and a hard place. If it speeds up development, it risks producing half-baked products that could further drive punters away. On the flipside, the ‘wait and see’ approach to making systems reliable is slower and leaves automakers on the back foot.
BMW
