Automotive industry signs Memorandum of Understanding
With the support of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), 11 companies in the automotive industry have agreed on pre-competitive cooperation in open source software development.
A corresponding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed today at the 29th International Automotive Electronics Congress (AEK).
With the increasing importance and complexity of vehicle software, it is becoming critical for the industry to increase speed and efficiency in development while ensuring high quality and safety.
EA significant portion of the vehicle software is not directly accessible to the user and therefore not differentiating. This fact allows the corresponding software modules to be developed jointly in an open and collaborative ecosystem.
In order to achieve the necessary functional safety for automotive series software, a groundbreaking development process for open source was developed in preparation for certification according to the relevant standards.
In addition, by providing executable software modules instead of detailed specifications, standardization and increased development speed are achieved through the so-called code-first approach.
The software development takes place in a transparent and vendor-independent environment of the Eclipse Foundation as part of the S-CORE project.
This ecosystem is open, both through software interoperability with relevant industry standards and for contributions and collaboration from other European and international companies.
The initiative's timeline envisages that the software scope for series development of a platform for autonomous driving will be available in 2026.
The modular software scope can be adapted or expanded and then made available to the industry as a customized distribution for series development. This allows manufacturers and suppliers to focus on differentiating features while maintaining core components together. This creates a strong foundation for innovation - and the freedom to focus on what makes the difference for the customer.
"Together we are building a future-proof and powerful software ecosystem - open, transparent and secure," VDA Managing Director Dr. Marcus Bollig said.
You can download the Memorandum of Understanding here
Further quotes from the companies:
BMW Group
Dr. Christoph Grote, SVP Electronics and Software
"The BMW Group believes that integrated ecosystems with open-source platforms and tools are a key driver for the development of mobility solutions. A shared code-first approach will be the foundation for functional innovations in our future products. We are committed to ECLIPSE S-CORE as a promising open-source approach for our upcoming projects."
Continental AG
Karsten Michels, Head of Product line "High Performance Computer", BA "Architecture and Network Solutions"
"With our contribution, Continental combines open source and virtualization with security certification and standardization. This creates an open and secure HPC middleware stack that accelerates the transition to the software-defined vehicle."
ECLIPSE Foundation
Mike Milinkovich, Executive Director
"Collaboration in the development of secure and open-source automotive platforms is a critical factor for the automotive industry. The Eclipse Foundation's governance model enables open collaboration between OEMs, tiers, and tech players within the Eclipse SDV Working Group. We recognize the trust placed in us as the stewards of such a strategic initiative and embrace the challenge of making it a success."
ETAS GmbH
Dr. Thomas Irawan, CEO
"Building on our role as a pioneer in automotive platform software, we are driving industry-wide innovation through an open source ecosystem, accelerating time to market, and delivering safe and sustainable solutions for the mobility of tomorrow."
HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA
Dr. Dietmar Stapel, Vice President Product Segment Radar
"We are pleased to support the Automotive Grade Open Source Ecosystem. Open, common standards are essential for secure integration and form the foundation for delivering innovative, value-added automotive features."
Mercedes-Benz AG
Magnus Östberg, Chief Software Officer
"As the creators of the automotive open source ecosystem, we are actively driving the future of automotive software with our code-first strategy. This is our clear commitment to open standards as the foundation for innovation."
Qorix
Markus Shupfner, CEO
"Qorix is committed to a powerful, open software ecosystem that combines functional safety and the speed of innovation - from architecture to production deployment."
Robert Bosch GmbH
Dr. Mathias Pilin, CTO Mobility
"We promote software solutions that integrate seamlessly across vehicle platforms, systems, and supplier technologies - for a software-defined mobility of the future."
Valeo Brain Division
Joachim Mathes, CTO
"Valeo has decided to join S-CORE and contribute key elements of its vOS to the stack. We are confident that a greater level of standardization and reuse will benefit the entire industry."
Vector Informatik GmbH
Dr. Matthias Traub, Managing Director
"With our joint initiative for an open software ecosystem for automotive ECUs, we are adding a powerful tool to the industry’s HPC full-stack toolbox."
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG
Dr. Oliver Seifert, Vice President R&D Infotainment and Connect
"Through this open source ecosystem in automotive development, we shorten the time to market, reduce application development effort, and drive innovation."
ZF Friedrichshafen
Torsten Gollewski, Executive Vice President Corporate R&D Innovation & Technology
"Software development based on open source is the key to greater efficiency and speed. This is necessary to remain internationally competitive. The VDA initiative is a good example of the benefits that collaboration can bring."
Read the original article
Comments
Nearly one year ago the German federal government passes an amendment to law on preferential use of open source software.
Now they push projects like OpenDesk[1] to fully replace MS Office (365) and OpenCode[2] where they open-source all software that is build with public money.
In my view, this has led to the German economy having more confidence in open source, and that open source can be used and maintained as a model for software over a period of 5-10 or even more years. Instead of buying licences and hoping that the manufacturers will maintain the software for at least 5 years and provide updates. In addition, there is the realisation, not least as a result of the change in the law and the current global political situation, that sovereignty is a very important factor.
[1] https://www.opendesk.eu/en
[2] https://opencode.de/en && https://gitlab.opencode.de/explore
By analognoise 2025-06-2422:201 reply To me the "opendesk" effort looks like a lot of not-open source "licensed" software ("with less than x% closed source") and a handful of wrappers around other people's open source software (diagrams.net wrapped as cryptpad, for example). In fact they recommend the "enterprise edition" which is NOT fully open source, right?
It says all the right words and has a flashy landing page, but doesn't seem very open or impressive; am I wrong in my assessment?
In my understanding it is fully open source and it's source code is available on OpenCode [1]. OpenDesk use nextcloud, Open-Xchange, Element and so on. And it actively contribute to this software. In my understanding, the enterprise edition, is the non-self-hosted version of [1].
What is the not-open source software used in OpenDesk? Because your example: cryptepad[2] is GNU Affero General Public License. And diagrams.net might look similar, but also LibreOffice looks similar to MS office.
By eterps 2025-06-256:31 > What is the not-open source software used in OpenDesk?
The Calendar is closed source?
And probably also the e-mail client and contacts list?
By analognoise 2025-06-2514:371 reply https://gitlab.opencode.de/bmi/opendesk/deployment/opendesk/...
It looks like multiple items in deploying the "enterprise edition" have licenses and are actually a closed-source model.
To me this looks like a flashy web page that makes all the right noises about "data sovereignty", etc, but relies (on the actual back-end) on multiple providers who have in fact cut off access to code; they even take pains to say it is "less than x% of code" or "Admin Console container image: 100% closed source", etc.
There are multiple examples on that page.
In my opinion this project is the best effort so far to have a full Office365 open-source alternative. And yes, if you want to have the enterprise edition, you have to accept the enterprise licenses, to have then features that contain closed source code. But this is an option, for enterprise. I think, they can still make the claim: fostering data sovereignty.
> In my opinion this project is the best effort so far to have a full Office365 open-source alternative.
Then the effort sucks.
From my perspective as a German, this almost looks like a scam. It's a bunch of OSS software rebundled as a package by a company which would like to make money off of support for the software. Which inherently sounds great, except that their only original contribution to the software package is a mid tier project management app.
The vibe I've been getting so far, is that they're trying to resell OSS software and accompanied support, except the underlying software already has great community and commercial support (Nextcloud and Collabora for example) and to make up for that, they're getting the german government to slap a "Made in Germany" label onto the package.
No it does not. And you act very german right now.
ZenDiS is the german goverment.
By analognoise 2025-06-2615:28 I’m an American and thought the effort sucked too - I had the same thoughts (it looks like a thin wrapper around other open source code with closed source “enterprise edition” which allows for providers there to overcharge for functionality that isn’t returned to the open version).
Mercedes Benz is already for example using KWin from KDE as Wayland compositor and likely many other open source components. So this sort of move is not without precedent.
It's a smart move to do so instead of switching to Android Auto and loosing control of one of the most important component of the experience of the car.
By danogentili 2025-06-2421:262 reply Kia is also using a Linux Wayland system on an x86-64 Intel machine (with an iGPU) with an (excellent) QT5 UI for their infontainment system
By moogly 2025-06-252:34 They're replacing it with an Android Automotive-based OS in 2026.
Still? It is the best and the most mature cross-platform toolkit. Among both open-source and proprietary ones. It is the default for embedded / industrial UIs and automotive. At least in Europe but I think many US companies like Autodesk also use Qt. Its programming paradigms are a bit outdated. However, it is quite performant and supports many 2D and 3D acceleration drivers / APIs.
By bluGill 2025-06-2423:30 I'm not sure I agree the paradigms are outdated. Sometimes the new stuff ends up worse for the problem
By greenavocado 2025-06-2422:19 By bigfatkitten 2025-06-2423:581 reply Qt pretty much owns the automotive market.
By rurban 2025-06-255:00 Medical also
Wow: I run KDE with Wayland on my PC, and given the instability I've experienced, I'm surprised it's suitable for a high-reliability environment like a car. I suppose that it being a more controlled environment may help, but even still, I wonder how stable it actually is.
By bigyabai 2025-06-253:54 They aren't using KDE for the car, just KWin. And KWin is a robust compositor - it will happily survive a horrible KDE crash and even let you restart the session (unlike Mutter) in many cases.
If you're only using a Wayland compositor to render a webview, you cut out a lot of the surface area that could potentially cause a crash.
By gerdesj 2025-06-2423:33 "Wow: I run KDE with Wayland on my PC"
Me too - its fine for me. You are probably holding it wrong 8)
My car (Seic MG4 - an EV) clearly has two lots of software. The reliable stuff that runs the "must work" stuff like driving controls and motors etc. and the other stuff that ought to work in an ideal world and I think that lot is on the Android tablet mid dashboard.
The other stuff even includes "lane assist" and other safety features because when I force re-boot the console they report as offline on the display behind the steering wheel, which I think is linked to the first system - the RTOS automotive jobbie.
I think SEIC (and I'm sure this is standard practice) have done a fairly decent job with the divvy up of responsibility between funky features and must work or death will ensure features. I'm an IT consultant and know when Android auto has crashed on my phone or car or both or the radio is on silent or there is dust in a USB port ...
Wayland vs X11 is not an issue in cars - whatever you get will either work always or be a bit of a mild distraction.
Cheers Jon
PS I went to school in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. My car has nothing in common with the real Morris Garage. The MG marque is merely an affectation and I don't know why Seic really bothers.
By niemandhier 2025-06-256:161 reply They will have to fix their attitude towards the people who build software before they can be successful.
In a typical German corp software developers even in RnD are not seen as an asset but as a mixture of line workers and support staff.
The problem is: The world best assembly line worker will not boost your companies performance in a measurable way, but a better dev will make a heavy impact in his project.
Nice example:
A friend of mine worked in RnD in a German DAX corp. C-Level regularly had them fix bugs in other projects. Why? RnD is the only department that can adapt its planing fast enough to fit in stupid side tasks. As a result the best people left, were replaced and the average skill of the department regressed to the mean.
By prasoon2211 2025-06-2511:11 Exactly this. In Germany, the median software developer is treated (and paid) pretty much the same as a blue collar worker, both by their company and by society at large.
From calling it "IT" to paying peanuts, no wonder no one smart and ambitious wants to get into CS here. All the smart kids seems to want to go into consulting and finance. So, of course Germany doesn't see the kind of outsized success in the Tech industry like the US or even the UK.
Volkswagen's (and in general other automaker's) software sucking is simply a fact downstream of that.
