Honda Motor and Nissan Motor last week agreed to collaborate on the development of in-vehicle software, but the duo should be joined by powerhouse Toyota Motor to better compete with foreign rivals, according to at least one academic.
“There will only be two or three automotive control system manufacturers in the world,” said Hiroaki Takada, a professor of information science at Nagoya University who also chaired the Japanese government’s software-defined vehicle commission.
The government in May set a target for Japanese companies to account for 30 percent of the global software-defined vehicle market by 2030. Automakers or technology companies responsible for the operating systems behind the software that make cars smarter and more autonomous will become as crucial to progress in personal transportation as companies that make engines or batteries.
