With the rapid development of intelligent and connected technology, over-the-air (OTA) has become an indispensable part of the field of smart cars. It remotely manages the firmware, data and applications on the car terminal through the mobile network, bringing a lot of convenience to car owners. In the context of increasingly fierce market competition, car companies are also exploring new profit growth points through software subscription services and other models.
Based on this background, Gasgoo Automotive Research Institute conducts research and analysis from three dimensions: the industry status quo, market analysis and development trend of automotive OTA. This report reads in part:
Automotive OTA (Over-The-Air, over-the-air technology) can remotely manage the firmware, data and applications on the automotive terminal through the mobile network, and the whole system is composed of OTA cloud, OTA terminal and OTA object; OTA is divided into hardware upgrade and software classification, and can be subdivided into software upgrade (SOTA), firmware upgrade (FOTA), remote configuration (COTA), data update/remote diagnosis (DOTA), according to the upgrade object can be subdivided into software upgrade (SOTA), firmware upgrade (FOTA), remote configuration (COTA), data update/remote diagnosis (DOTA), Other types (XOTA) Class 6. Among them, SOTA is generally used in entertainment systems and intelligent driving systems, and the application is remotely upgraded on the basis of the operating system to achieve an "incremental" update of the controller function, which generally involves a small range of functions at the application layer, excluding the core system of the car, which has little impact on the performance and safety of the whole vehicle, and has low requirements for upgrading preconditions; theoretically, all electronic control units (ECUs) that support firmware updates can be covered in the FOTA range (such as automotive power control systems, chassis electronic systems, Autonomous driving systems, body control systems, etc.), such as opening up ACC/ALC and other autonomous driving assistance functions, optimizing fatigue detection algorithms based on face recognition, etc.
From the perspective of development mode, OTA is divided into two modes: self-developed by car companies and provided by third parties, some car companies have established relevant departments or subsidiaries to adopt self-research methods to deeply participate in all aspects of OTA, and among the third-party OTA suppliers are traditional tiers represented by Bosch With the formulation of relevant national laws and regulations, automotive OTA has reached the industrial level, with software saleability functions and corresponding service systems, and the integration of various domain controls has been further improved, and the corresponding OEMs will also face greater security and compliance challenges.
From the supply side, OTA providers are mainly divided into third-party professional suppliers and OEMs. Among the third-party suppliers, the first echelon, represented by Arabi and Harman, has complete OTA development capabilities, among which Harman has become one of the few foreign-funded enterprises in the first echelon with Tesla, and some self-developed car companies have deployed relevant capabilities through their subsidiaries, joint ventures, and companies with strong business related companies, focusing on the breakthrough of OTA technology in the software-defined vehicle environment, which can fully grasp various data and contribute to vehicle safety. Among them, most of the car companies still choose to provide third-party services, and a few car companies carry out independent development, among which the new power brand Wei Xiaoli adopts self-development, and the overall competition pattern of OTA is relatively clear.
From the demand side, at present, most of the mainstream car companies at home and abroad can support FOTA, BYD and some new power brands have achieved global upgrades among independent brands, and a few car companies such as BMW can also achieve global upgrades among joint venture brands, but the overall process of domestic car companies is still in the lead. In terms of business model, with the maturity of vehicle OTA capabilities, car companies have begun to pay for OTA upgrades. Internet of Vehicles function and automatic driving optional package and other software subscription services as a new profit growth point, new forces such as Wei Xiaoli have launched software subscription services, the core of the new power car company software payment is the intelligent driving function, the lower level to high-speed intelligent navigation assistance and intelligent parking two functions as the core, the price is 3-40,000, the higher level is to urban intelligent navigation assistance as the core; Car entertainment service package, traffic package, music cockpit, etc.
From the perspective of market performance, from 2022 to November 2023, the OTA deployment rate in mainland China has continued to rise, and the OTA deployment rate has reached 66.2% in November 2023, an increase of 6.7 percentage points year-on-year, and the top 10 OTA brands have accounted for more than 60%, among which domestic and foreign brands such as BYD and Honda have increased significantly;
In terms of installed brands, due to the rapid increase in the volume of new energy vehicles, the share of domestic brand OTA market increased to 59.2% from January to November 2023, and in terms of installation rate, both domestic brands and joint venture brands increased compared to 2022, but domestic brands were significantly higher than joint venture brands, reaching 76.7%.
In terms of penetration rate, the penetration rate of new power brands has reached almost 100%, and the penetration rate of OTA of traditional brands is relatively high, of which BYD has reached 99.7% under its own brand, and Mercedes-Benz, From 2022 to 2023, the frequency of OTA upgrades for major auto brands will increase significantly, and the high-end sub-brands of new power brands and traditional independent automakers will be relatively obvious, maintaining a high-frequency state of monthly or bimonthly updates, and the versions will be updated from multiple dimensions, such as autonomous driving, voice recognition and interaction, which will improve vehicle performance.
Generally speaking, automotive OTA will technically realize the upgrade and development from function-oriented to service-oriented through the development of four stages: SOTA platform construction, FOTA platform construction, OTA application expansion and OTA software-defined vehicle operation, and at the same time, it is necessary to solve the pain points in technology and compliance. The technical pain points mainly include the duration of a single OTA upgrade, the success rate of OTA upgrades, the safety and reliability of OTA upgrades, and the accuracy of OTA upgrade content.
From a technical point of view, in the future, with the centralization of electronic and electrical architecture and the improvement of hardware configuration, the scope of automotive OTA upgrades will become more and more extensive, extending from basic software updates to vehicle upgrades.
In terms of application scenarios, at present, the OTA of most car companies is mainly focused on after-sales software updates, as OTA applications become more and more mature, they will develop from a single after-sales upgrade scenario to the application scenario of the whole life cycle of the vehicle.
At the same time, with the increasing prominence of security issues, the security of OTA upgrades has also become an important concern, after the vehicle establishes communication with the outside world through the network, it will increase the potential risks of the original closed car being attacked, hijacked, information leakage, etc., and the establishment of an OTA cloud management vehicle security system is a necessary condition.
Content source: Smart Car OTA Industry Report (2024 Edition)