Change Management with the Shift to Software-Defined Vehicles

With the innovation of automotive technology and business in line with the "CASE*1 trend," attention is being focused on a new form of car called the "Software Defined Vehicle (SDV)." SDV refers to a vehicle system in which many functions are defined and implemented by software. It may be easy to imagine it as a system configuration and usage similar to that of a smartphone applied to a car.


The iPhone, launched by Apple in 2007, evolved mobile phones, whose most important function was to make calls on the go, into digital devices that can be used for various purposes, including social networking sites, watching videos, searching for information, and making electronic payments. Today, it has become a necessity that everyone around the world carries with them at all times. With the evolution of SDVs, a similar innovation is about to occur in the automotive industry.


SDVs will not only transform the car as an industrial product. The industry structure and business model will also be significantly different from the current ones. This can be imagined from the fact that in the mobile phone industry, where telecommunications companies once reigned as trendsetters, the introduction of the "iPhone" opened up valuable growth markets for businesses offering a wide variety of apps, communities, and content.


Existing automakers, suppliers, and after-sales service providers must redefine and adapt to the coming era of SDVs, including their business models, organizational structures, allocation of management resources, and even their corporate culture and employees' mindsets. Simply developing and providing SDV-compatible technologies and products will not be enough to thrive in the coming era.

Software has long been used to make various mechanisms in automobiles function. The types, number, and scale of software continue to grow. So how is the software installed in SDVs different from what has been developed and installed up until now? Traditionally, software used to operate car functions has been...