In the 2021 Automotive Software Survey, Strategy Analytics and Aurora Labs asked "Who in the automotive ecosystem has the most influence over technology development, adoption and acceptance?" Respondents were asked to rank four choices:

1. Car Owners
2. Manufacturers
3. Legislators
4. Tech Companies

What initially stands out from the responses to this question is that the car owner was seen as the least influential, receiving by far the fewest 1st and 2nd choice votes. That is probably an accurate reflection, as many aspects of the electrified and automated vision that the industry is painting arguably go beyond where consumers are today in terms of their needs and wants. It is not necessarily a bad thing to look ahead of your customers, though, and many huge and important automotive (and other) technology leaps have been made in such a way.

However - there are some warnings to be had here - with some recent innovations, especially around the vehicle HMI - being seen as a retrograde step in some quarters.

What is perhaps of more concern for the industry is that the survey respondents essentially see the tech firms as neck-and-neck with the car manufacturers in terms of the influence that they have. The vehicle manufacturers did receive more 1st choice votes, but when combining 1st and 2nd choice votes the gap between them and the tech companies essentially disappears. Be it Google, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft in the West or Baidu, Huawei, Alibaba and Tencent in China, these tech firms are well outside of the control or even influence of the automotive industry.

What’s also clear is the challenge that legislators have. The complexity of the modern automobile, and its rapid pace-of change, is becoming an increasing problem for those who make the laws and regulations. As the car increasingly becomes a software platform on wheels, the fitness-of-purpose of national and international standards and regulations bodies is something that perhaps needs to be questioned. Many of these bodies still have their roots in the days when the car was mainly a mechanically defined product.

The 2022 Automotive Software Survey is now open for your input.

We will be asking the same question again - and hoping to further segment the answers based upon where in the world the respondent is based.

What do you think? Will be we see any shifts in opinion during a year that has seen Apple start to lay out its vision for the cockpit? Do you believe there will be any significant differences in how the balance of power is perceived in Europe, Asia and America?

Let us know by filling out the survey!