After the failure of their merger, Nissan and Honda have decided to bet on the digital offensive: The two groups now rely on a common software platform, Developed internally, to regain ground in the face of Chinese technological domination in the automobile. If no rapprochement of capital took place, for the two manufacturers, there is a need to act quickly in front of the threat from China, Where the generation of Byd, Xpeng or Nio has imposed a digital tempo that even the Japanese premium has trouble following.
Forced turn to “Software-Defined Vehicle”
Since the summer of 2024, Nissan and Honda discreetly have been working on a common software platform which could, according to Nikkei thingfind yourself in most of their models by the end of the decade. The challenge is to regain control of the software architecture of future cars, long delegated to third-party suppliers or Western subcontractors. This time, neither Android Automotive nor Foxconn are in the loop: for the two brands, it is a question of asserting digital sovereignty, even if it means absorbing astronomical development costs – some sources already evoke a Potential envelope of $ 10 billion To build, test and industrialize this new “brain” common software.
The bet is twofold: in the medium term, this house development would make it possible to unify the collection of data on vehicles and users, to avoid capture by third -party players and, above all, to open the way to new incomes. The dream of all the industry today: invoice, à la carte, any update, info-directing function or assisted driving. A windfall that Chinese manufacturers already exploit on a large scale, but still very little used in Europe.
This “digital fusion” – common in architecture, but differentiated by interfaces and “home” user experiences – is also accompanied by a desire to standardize certain key components: microprocessors, engines… all to accelerate the rate and Pool purchases So far fragmented and ineffective.
Why this haste? Because today the reality is brutal: It is the Chinese manufacturers who largely dictate the world pace on -board software innovation. On many affordable electric models, features such as the contextual voice assistant, remote updates, the navigation assistant boosted at AI, games or even streaming video are better integrated and faster than at Honda or Nissan. A annoying observation for brands which, fifteen years ago, imposed their reliability standard and ergonomics in the world automobile.
Race against China
The pressure is therefore at double level. Commercially, there is an urgent need to regain ground in China as in Western markets, where consumer expectations have exploded with a more flexible digital experience, personalization, connected monitoring and a natural passage between mobile and mechanical services. Politically, it is also a question of defending a “Japanese” conception of the automotive data, at a time when software independence becomes an industrial issue major, as strategic as was the thermal engine twenty years ago.
For the moment there is no question for the moment to abandon the identity of each brand. Everyone will develop their “graphics” and personalized customer journeys, Even if the base is shared in its foundations. This modularity should allow Nissan and Honda to keep their DNA while exploiting the agility of a shared code. The first models could be created as of the next generation, but the site is not thin: architecture, security, monetization, partnerships with other Japanese equipment manufacturers … Everything will have to be redesigned in a differently faster logic that the one who has saved the attempts to alliance.
