In the era of software-defined cars, how can OEMs survive in the general trend?

"Software-defined car" is a popular concept in the industry this year, which reflects the industry's rethinking of the future car. At the concluded Beijing Auto Show, we can also see that in addition to the trend of new energy, automotive intelligence and software-defined vehicles are leading the industry trend, and major auto companies are also accelerating around software-defined vehicles.

Recently, SAIC Software Center officially announced the name of "Zero Beam" and officially became an independent new discipline. Volkswagen Group expects to invest 7 billion euros (about 57.5 billion yuan) in the software organization structure in the next 3-5 years, and the number of employees will exceed 65.438+00,000. Toyota Motor also announced that it will set up a software-based subsidiary, focusing on developing software businesses such as autonomous driving, brand-new car operating systems and high-definition maps, and accelerating the transformation to software business; From 20 17 to 20 19, the number of software-related engineers recruited by Geely tripled.

In addition, Bosch, Chinese mainland and other parts suppliers have also invested in software business to develop the software architecture of automobiles. As a traditional industry known for its hardware, the automobile industry has experienced a hundred years of development, and driven by some new car companies, it may usher in a new era defined by software. So what is the concept of software-defined car? What impact will it have on the future of the automobile industry?

How is a software-defined car defined?

Software-defined automobile (Softwre? Definition? The core idea of vehicle, referred to as SDV for short, is that it is not the traditional technology and performance indicators that define the value of automobile in the future, but the software technology with artificial intelligence as the core.

In the past 100 years since the development of automobile, the functions of engine, chassis, body and electrical equipment have developed from simple mechanical control to electronic modularization, and software has participated in the control. But in the traditional sense, the functional modules of automobiles are often not interconnected, but separated. Any function change of a car needs to refresh the whole function module, and often it needs to mobilize several suppliers to cooperate. This kind of car seems to be fully functional and intelligent, but it is not really a software-defined car.

At present, the software-defined car is the concept of smart phones such as Nokia and Apple. Our traditional car is like Nokia mobile phone, with good hardware in terms of function, but it is still replaced by smart phones such as Apple. "Traditional cars begin to age from the moment they are delivered to users." Chen, co-founder and chief operating officer of Chinese Express, pointed out in an interview that due to the fixed functions, the control level of traditional cars will not change much throughout the subsequent life cycle.

However, in the new format, the software architecture can realize the separation of vehicle software and hardware. After improving the compatibility of hardware, you can constantly introduce updated functions with software. Just like smart phones, OTA can be continuously upgraded to ensure that it will not "age" in the hands of users.

How does the main engine factory survive under the general trend?

In the past 100 years, the development of internal products in the automobile industry mainly focused on hardware. Facing the coming software-defined automobile era, how to turn around is a problem faced by all automobile enterprises.

Take Tesla for example. Tesla never emphasized that he was a car company, but a high-tech company. And we can also see that more and more traditional car companies have begun to announce the transformation to technology companies and travel companies. It can be said that this is the direction of the transformation of the automobile industry, and traditional automobile enterprises have begun to change.

But in fact, such a transformation may not be easy for traditional enterprises. As a car, the control code is very large, and now most car manufacturers' own software teams are still relatively weak. However, with the development of software-defined cars, it will bring great opportunities to technology companies and traditional car companies. Judging from the Beijing Auto Show, software-defined cars are leading the industry trend in the era of smart cars. Software has become the core element of competition among automobile enterprises, and the relationship between OEM and suppliers is being reconstructed.

For the product level of the enterprise, it will also produce considerable changes. For example, the previous automobile products pursued performance, interior and appearance. However, after the software defines the car, it will pay more attention to autonomous driving and car networking. Before the mobile phone was defined by software, there were many styles of mobile phones, such as flip type and straight type. However, after the emergence of smart phones, more competition will focus on applications with stronger features, so for traditional OEMs, the future differentiation will mainly be in software, and the proportion of hardware will be less and less.

The terminal sales of automobile enterprises will also bring great changes. In the past, car companies only sold cars, and in the future they will make money through software and follow-up services. Some experts say that in the future, more than 80% changes in the automobile industry will come from software.

The digitalization of automobile is the general trend, and the importance of internal software of automobile will become more and more important. This is not only because the value of software will be higher and higher in the automobile, but also because the function and importance of software in realizing intelligent and interconnected automobile functions, especially in automatic driving, are more prominent than ever before. Driven by the wave of "new four modernizations" in the automobile industry, software-defined automobile has become the new focus of the industry. As its best carrier, the strategic investment of major automobile companies in new energy automobile products will continue to expand.

This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.