The Dispatch: Week 38
Wind River & Hyundai Mobis debut dev studio, Damon makes e-motorcycles smarter, ZF shows off Chassis 2.0, Osmosis takes telematics to the waterlines, and AFEELA doubles down on cloud.
SDV Insider | Sept 19, 2025
For those living in the Northern Hemisphere, Fall is just around the corner on Monday September 22 đâa season of shifting gears and fresh starts. In SDV-land, the same theme rings true: cloud-to-car pipelines, dev tooling, and AI-in-the-cabin are all pushing the industry into a new phase where platforms and partners drive the pace of innovation. And this last week showed the scope extends well beyond 4-wheels âmarine telematics and superbikes are now getting the SDV treatment too. One message is clear: OEMs are compressing cycles from concept to compliant code. Letâs get into it.
đ Top Story
Wind River and Hyundai Mobis Collaborate to Advance Software-Defined Vehicle Development â Wind River (an Aptiv company) and Hyundai Mobis announced the completion of Mobis Development Studio, a platform aimed at accelerating SDV development and validation. The studio integrates simulation, CI/CD, and compliance processes into one environment to fast-track feature iteration and readiness for OTA updates.
Our Take: A dedicated dev studio signals OEMs industrializing software workflows alongside hardware. By embedding toolchains, virtual validation, and compliance upfront, Hyundai Mobis is positioning to shorten timelines and deliver production-grade SDV features at scaleâan essential play as regulatory and safety expectations intensify.
đ Industry Pulse
SDV Innovator Awards Nominations Open â MotorTrend, QNX, and Vector have opened the gates for the 2026 awards, calling on OEMs, startups, and suppliers to show off their best SDV breakthroughs. Beyond the trophies, itâs a litmus test for whoâs shaping the industryâs roadmap. Submissions close Oct. 15âwill your name be on the shortlist?
Perficient Named âMajor Playerâ in IDC SDV Services MarketScape â IDC tagged Perficient as a contender thanks to its chops in cloud integration and compliance-heavy projects. Translation: the SDV services ecosystem is starting to solidify, and players that can juggle both innovation and regulation are climbing the ranks.
Rackspace Earns AWS Automotive Competency â Cloud integrators canât just be âcloudyâ anymoreâthey need domain depth. Rackspaceâs new AWS automotive badge signals that the table stakes now include auto-grade data pipelines, OTA know-how, and mobility-scale uptime.
đ¤ Tech & Innovation Spotlight
Damon Launches IO Platform for Smart Motorcycles â Damon isnât just selling fast battery electric motorcycles anymoreâitâs building a digital nervous system for them. With $30M in new funding, the startup unveiled its IO backbone, layering AI safety, IoT connectivity, and OTA updates into two-wheel mobility. Think SDV smarts, but tuned for super bike adrenaline.
ZF Showcases âChassis 2.0â at IAA Munich [via Design News] â Forget static hardwareâZFâs steer- and brake-by-wire systems are rewiring how vehicles handle, fusing with centralized compute to deliver software-defined dynamics. The message: tomorrowâs chassis will evolve like your smartphone OS, not just your suspension parts.
Osmosis and STW Technic Partner on AI-Powered Marine Telematics â The SDV wave is reaching the waterline. Osmosis and STW are bringing AI-driven analytics and connected platforms to marine telematics, enabling real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance. Boats may soon be as data-driven as cars, reshaping safety on the open water.
Qualcomm & AWS Power AFEELAâs Cloud-First Development â Sony Honda Mobility is leaning hard on the cloud to speed AFEELAâs evolution. With Qualcomm silicon under the hood and AWS simulation in the loop, the JV is compressing test cycles, scaling autonomy edge cases, and pushing next-gen cabin experiences faster than legacy playbooks allow.
đ What Weâre Reading (and Watching)
Off-Highway Vehicle Telematics Market Poised for 340% Growth â Heavy equipment and off-road fleets are rapidly adopting connected platforms. The parallels to automotive are clear: uptime, predictive analytics, and remote monitoring are just as valuable in a quarry as they are on the freeway.
Passenger Vehicle Telematics Market Outlook â A new FMI forecast underlines how fast telematics platforms are embedding into cars, making data-driven servicesâfrom insurance to infotainmentâthe core of the SDV business case.
Towards Software-Defined Vehicles [Elektor Video] â A practitionerâs walk-through of how embedded systems, agile methods, and open source can live alongside safety standards like ISO 26262âbridging the gap between hacker culture and homologation reality.
đ Thatâs a Wrap!
Keep shipping safe code, fasterâfrom cloud to carâand keep the driver smiling while you do it. Got thoughts or scoops? Reply here or email editor@sdvinsider.com. Weâll be back next week with more bits, bytes, and burnt rubber.
Stay safe & stay curious,
â The SDV Insider Crew đ