ABM Q4 - Flipbook - Page 54
OPI N I O N
RETAIL
Software strategies
and automotive
competitiveness
O
ver the next five years,
software strategy within
the automotive industry
will become a decisive
competitive lever.
Manufacturers that get
the foundations right will
move faster, reduce risk and
support vehicles for longer.
It is already changing what
automakers can offer in the
development of new vehicle capabilities,
including advanced driver assistance
systems (ADAS), infotainment
improvements, and the ability to roll
out enhancements via over-the-air
updates. But it will play just as critical
a role in ensuring the safety of new
systems and embedded intelligence,
while also enhancing production and
enabling automation.
The automotive sector in the UK is
currently facing a difficult transition
due to mounting
pressures from
new market
entrants and
Chinese EV
manufacturers,
alongside
declining domestic
production.
The latest figures
from SMMT show
UK car output fell
4.7% in the first
seven months
of 2026. UK
manufacturers
must now consider
how they can
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AUTOMOTIVE BUSINESS
Q4 2026
overcome the cost and complexity of
bringing new capabilities to market.
A route out of the rut
With vehicles becoming more softwaredefined, the choices manufacturers make
about development and safety, as well as
the ongoing support of new vehicles, will
become key differentiators in response
to competitive pressures in the market.
For the software strategy to have a
significant impact on industry health,
three shifts will need to happen.
The first is how automotive
manufacturers employ greater reuse
of the software that now underpins a
vehicle. Understandably, car makers
and manufacturers of commercial
vehicles want control over the features
they create that differentiate what they
bring to market. But developing every
underlying component themselves
leaves engineers spending too much
Autonomous future?
Robust software
foundations will
be critical to the
safe and reliable
development of
autonomous driving
