The German automotive industry wants to develop open-source software together

With the support of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), 11 companies in the automotive industry have agreed on pre-competitive cooperation in open source software development.

A corresponding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed today at the 29th International Automotive Electronics Congress (AEK).

With the increasing importance and complexity of vehicle software, it is becoming critical for the industry to increase speed and efficiency in development while ensuring high quality and safety.

EA significant portion of the vehicle software is not directly accessible to the user and therefore not differentiating. This fact allows the corresponding software modules to be developed jointly in an open and collaborative ecosystem.

In order to achieve the necessary functional safety for automotive series software, a groundbreaking development process for open source was developed in preparation for certification according to the relevant standards.

In addition, by providing executable software modules instead of detailed specifications, standardization and increased development speed are achieved through the so-called code-first approach.
The software development takes place in a transparent and vendor-independent environment of the Eclipse Foundation as part of the S-CORE project.

This ecosystem is open, both through software interoperability with relevant industry standards and for contributions and collaboration from other European and international companies.

The initiative's timeline envisages that the software scope for series development of a platform for autonomous driving will be available in 2026.

The modular software scope can be adapted or expanded and then made available to the industry as a customized distribution for series development. This allows manufacturers and suppliers to focus on differentiating features while maintaining core components together. This creates a strong foundation for innovation - and the freedom to focus on what makes the difference for the customer.

"Together we are building a future-proof and powerful software ecosystem - open, transparent and secure," VDA Managing Director Dr. Marcus Bollig said.

You can download the Memorandum of Understanding here

Further quotes from the companies:

BMW Group
Dr. Christoph Grote, SVP Electronics and Software
"The BMW Group believes that integrated ecosystems with open-source platforms and tools are a key driver for the development of mobility solutions. A shared code-first approach will be the foundation for functional innovations in our future products. We are committed to ECLIPSE S-CORE as a promising open-source approach for our upcoming projects."

Continental AG
Karsten Michels, Head of Product line "High Performance Computer", BA "Architecture and Network Solutions"
"With our contribution, Continental combines open source and virtualization with security certification and standardization. This creates an open and secure HPC middleware stack that accelerates the transition to the software-defined vehicle."

ECLIPSE Foundation
Mike Milinkovich, Executive Director
"Collaboration in the development of secure and open-source automotive platforms is a critical factor for the automotive industry. The Eclipse Foundation's governance model enables open collaboration between OEMs, tiers, and tech players within the Eclipse SDV Working Group. We recognize the trust placed in us as the stewards of such a strategic initiative and embrace the challenge of making it a success."

ETAS GmbH
Dr. Thomas Irawan, CEO
"Building on our role as a pioneer in automotive platform software, we are driving industry-wide innovation through an open source ecosystem, accelerating time to market, and delivering safe and sustainable solutions for the mobility of tomorrow."

HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA
Dr. Dietmar Stapel, Vice President Product Segment Radar
"We are pleased to support the Automotive Grade Open Source Ecosystem. Open, common standards are essential for secure integration and form the foundation for delivering innovative, value-added automotive features."

Mercedes-Benz AG
Magnus Östberg, Chief Software Officer
"As the creators of the automotive open source ecosystem, we are actively driving the future of automotive software with our code-first strategy. This is our clear commitment to open standards as the foundation for innovation."

Qorix
Markus Shupfner, CEO
"Qorix is committed to a powerful, open software ecosystem that combines functional safety and the speed of innovation - from architecture to production deployment."

Robert Bosch GmbH
Dr. Mathias Pilin, CTO Mobility
"We promote software solutions that integrate seamlessly across vehicle platforms, systems, and supplier technologies - for a software-defined mobility of the future."

Valeo Brain Division
Joachim Mathes, CTO
"Valeo has decided to join S-CORE and contribute key elements of its vOS to the stack. We are confident that a greater level of standardization and reuse will benefit the entire industry."

Vector Informatik GmbH
Dr. Matthias Traub, Managing Director
"With our joint initiative for an open software ecosystem for automotive ECUs, we are adding a powerful tool to the industry’s HPC full-stack toolbox."

Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG
Dr. Oliver Seifert, Vice President R&D Infotainment and Connect
"Through this open source ecosystem in automotive development, we shorten the time to market, reduce application development effort, and drive innovation."

ZF Friedrichshafen
Torsten Gollewski, Executive Vice President Corporate R&D Innovation & Technology
"Software development based on open source is the key to greater efficiency and speed. This is necessary to remain internationally competitive. The VDA initiative is a good example of the benefits that collaboration can bring."