Nissan and Honda have signed a joint development agreement covering the core electronic control units and software that will underpin their next-generation software-defined vehicles. The two Japanese makers will define common specifications for the main and zone ECUs, the in-vehicle operating system, and key parts of the middleware and vehicle control software. The resulting electrical/electronic architecture is scheduled to appear in both companies’ cars from fiscal year 2029 onward.
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. have entered into a joint development agreement aimed at standardising several of the electronic control units that sit at the heart of a modern car’s electronics, together with the software layers that run on them.
The agreement covers multiple core ECUs within the electrical/electronic (E/E) architecture of the two companies’ next-generation software-defined vehicles, as well as the in-vehicle operating system and key parts of the middleware and vehicle control software. According to the two firms, the ECUs in question are the high-performance main units — effectively in-car computers built around SoCs — and the zone ECUs that oversee each area of the vehicle.
Arriving from fiscal year 2029
The E/E architecture incorporating the jointly developed ECUs and software is planned for use in both companies’ next-generation software-defined vehicles from fiscal year 2029 onward. No individual models have been named, and the companies have not said how the work will be split between them.
Why the software layer matters
A software-defined vehicle moves functions that were once handled by dozens of separate control units into a smaller number of powerful computers, with features delivered and updated through software. That shift has become one of the industry’s most expensive engineering problems, and several manufacturers have chosen to share the cost rather than carry it alone.
Nissan and Honda say the software domain centred on SDVs is key to vehicle intelligence and electrification, and that they identified it as an important area of collaboration because of the pace of technological change and the need to strengthen competitiveness through faster R&D and more efficient investment. The two companies state that they carried out extensive studies on possible cooperation in the software field before reaching the agreement.
What the companies expect to gain
By standardising these foundational technologies, the pair say they intend to pool their engineering expertise and development resources to improve efficiency, speed up innovation and strengthen competitiveness through lower development costs and greater economies of scale.
The agreement sits within the broader strategic partnership between the two makers, which they describe as covering a range of areas intended to accelerate progress toward carbon neutrality and to help bring about a future with zero traffic fatalities involving their vehicles.
What it means
For buyers, shared underpinnings of this kind are largely invisible: the visible interface, features and brand character remain each company’s own. The practical significance is in cost and cadence — a common software and computing base can shorten development cycles and make over-the-air updates cheaper to sustain across a model range.
For the industry, it is another sign that in-car software has become a scale business. Neither company has disclosed financial terms, supplier arrangements or which vehicles will be first to use the new architecture.
Nissan and Honda say they will continue to build on their respective strengths and look for further opportunities to deepen the collaboration.
Source: global.nissannews.com