Motoring Trends March/April 2025

Software Defined Vehicles are the future and speak about the diversion from traditional ways of manufacture where metallurgy was the most important criteria. With electronics taking over as a brain of an automobile that governs each and every sub-system such as steering, engine, infotainment system, comfort features etc., it is the software that has come to define a vehicle, letting it stand out from others in its segment and to offer the user a differentiated experience that can be customised to his or her need. This has in turn effected a change in the way vehicles are tested and validated. Their changing nature of fuel technologies and features make for developments that turn testing and validation increasingly virtual to save costs and most of all time. So time-to-market is a factor leading to data-based decisions. It is also a factor leading to vehicles that can meet ever tightening regulations and ever growing user expectations.  This issue of Motoring Trends looks at these developments among many other interesting aspects of the automotive industry not just in India but other parts of the world as well.