Reprogramming the Future of Cars: How to Overcome AUTOSAR Challenges with FPT?

As automotive software complexity surges, AUTOSAR has emerged as a crucial standard to tame this complexity, yet its sophisticated architecture, high upfront investment, and talent shortages are preventing many automakers from realizing its full value. To bridge this capability gap and accelerate time‑to‑AUTOSAR, leveraging experienced third‑party service providers such as FPT enables OEMs and Tier 1s to achieve quick‑win implementations while simultaneously upskilling their internal teams. Consequently, the most effective path forward is a hybrid strategy that pairs long‑term, AUTOSAR‑focused workforce development with targeted partnerships to de‑risk projects, compress timelines, and compete in a software‑defined vehicle future.

Written by

Trang Nguyen Vu Quynh

Published on

December 18, 2023

Carmaking is undoubtedly complex. A decade ago, a standard car was already estimated to contain 2,000 functional components, 30,000 parts, and 10,000 million lines of code. As this complexity continued to grow, AUTOSAR was introduced as an attempt to standardize the development process.

However, despite its benefits, challenges such as high complexity and significant initial investment are still preventing many automakers from unlocking AUTOSAR’s full potential. While long-term investment remains crucial, strategies like leveraging third-party service providers have emerged as a shortcut to accelerate AUTOSAR implementation.

Software: Reprogramming the future of cars

The complexity of carmaking has grown exponentially over the past decades, driven by fierce competition to reinvent the in-car experience. One study estimated that the number of lines of code required for a typical car rose from 2.4 million in 2005 to 10 million in 2010. To put this into context, a standard car now contains nearly twice as many lines of code as a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, which has 6.5 million lines [1]. But those figures are already a decade old. With current automotive megatrends such as EVs, IVI and autonomous vehicles relying heavily on software, it is clear that the complexity of car production has increased tremendously in recent years.

As a result, strengthening software capabilities has become a top priority for carmakers and their suppliers seeking a competitive edge. A McKinsey & Company study finds that high-performing software organizations report three to six times higher development throughput and quality than lower-performing peers. Unsurprisingly, global carmakers are entering a race for software development. For example, Toyota, the world's top-selling automaker, plans to expand its software engineer workforce to 18,000 people by 2025 [2], while Hyundai Motor Group, a leading Korean automotive manufacturer, intends to invest US$ 13 billion to strengthen software-defined vehicle capabilities [3].

However, despite rising efforts and investment, the industry's software capability has not yet caught up with the growing complexity of automotive software. According to another study by McKinsey & Company, while the complexity of automotive software increased by a factor of 4.0 in the last decade, relative software development capability grew only by a factor of 1.0. This gap is most severe in increasingly complex domains such as infotainment (IVI) and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) [2].

AUTOSAR and the push for standardization

To reduce complexity and enhance development efficiency in automotive innovations, AUTOSAR (AUTomotive Open System ARchitecture) was introduced as a common standard. In essence, AUTOSAR is a framework for developing standardized software and an open E/E system architecture, created through a partnership of leading global automotive companies such as BMW, Bosch, and Continental [4].

By defining common architectures and interfaces, AUTOSAR significantly accelerates the development of complex automotive software. Its key advantages include:

Reuse of software: AUTOSAR specifies a standardized software architecture so that software components developed for one vehicle model can be reused across other models.
Improved flexibility: With a common architecture, ECUs can be made compatible with different systems without requiring extensive modification.
Enhanced system integration: Well-defined integration standards help ensure that software components can be adapted to various systems, improving overall system reliability.
Efficient software development: Standardized software components enable more efficient development, testing, and maintenance, helping optimize the overall development effort.

Despite these benefits, implementing AUTOSAR brings significant challenges, the most critical being how to manage system complexity. The framework involves sophisticated software architecture, design, and implementation, which can disrupt existing practices and know-how that have been in place within organizations for decades.

Closely following complexity, substantial upfront investment and the difficulty of training rank as the second and third major drawbacks of AUTOSAR. Given the framework’s complexity, long-term and extensive training is essential. The investment, however, goes beyond training costs to include the expense of climbing the learning curve, often through failed projects in the early implementation phase.

Moreover, the challenge is amplified in markets such as South Korea. Growing demand for AUTOSAR Application SW Development (both Model-based and Non-Model-based design), AUTOSAR platform development, configuration, integration, and testing has led to a shortage of AUTOSAR talent for both OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. While long-term investment in AUTOSAR-focused human resources is critical, automakers can also pursue quick-win measures to accelerate their AUTOSAR journey, for example by leveraging third-party service providers.

Third-party service providers for AUTOSAR quick wins

Successful AUTOSAR implementation demands deep expertise, extensive experience, and a sizable engineering workforce, which can take automakers years to build. This challenge is amplified by the global developer shortage, with an IDC report estimating a gap of up to 4 million developers worldwide by 2025 [5].

The talent crunch is particularly evident in the automotive sector. In South Korea, the world's 5th largest car-producing country, up to 20,000 workers require additional training to support the industry's transition to future-car technologies [6]. Against this backdrop, relying solely on in-house teams can significantly slow down AUTOSAR adoption.

In this context, leveraging third-party service providers emerges as a practical quick-win approach. It enables automakers and Tier-1 suppliers to achieve tangible AUTOSAR implementation results within months, while simultaneously transferring knowledge and upskilling internal teams for long-term capability building.

One of South Korea's largest Tier-1 OEM suppliers offers a notable example of how partnering with an experienced third party can unlock quick wins. The company needed to develop two strategic components on the Aurix TC39x/TC37x target board:

AUTOSAR BSW SRS/SWS list for version 4.4.0 and HMC ES SRS.
Safety modules compliant with ASIL-D and ASPICE Level 1.

To realize these goals with optimized development time and effort, the Tier-1 supplier partnered with FPT Software, a leading automotive service provider. FPT Software brings more than 12 years of AUTOSAR experience, a workforce of over 500 AUTOSAR experts, and strict compliance with ISO 26262 A-SIL A/B/C/D and A-SPICE Level 3.

Despite strong time pressure, FPT Software delivered 76 modules compliant with A-SPICE Level 2 in just 12 months. At peak workload, 180 engineers worked in parallel using only eight hardware units/licenses. The project applied four distinct testing levels to ensure quality and safety:

Static check
Unit test (100% coverage)
Integration test (100% coverage)
System test

Throughout the engagement, ASPICE-compliant processes were mandatory, and achieving safety certification at ASIL-D level remained a core requirement.

Conclusion

As automotive software complexity explodes, AUTOSAR stands out as the essential backbone to standardize development, enable reuse, and keep innovation manageable—yet its intricate architecture, steep upfront investment, and acute talent shortage often slow automakers down. This is where strategic partnerships become more than a temporary fix: by leveraging seasoned third-party providers, OEMs can bypass years of trial and error, accelerate AUTOSAR adoption, and upskill their own teams along the way. FPT Software’s collaboration with a leading Korean Tier 1, delivering dozens of safety‑critical modules at A-SPICE and ISO26262 standards in just 12 months, proves what the right partner can unlock. As cars rapidly evolve into software-defined platforms, the real question is not whether to embrace AUTOSAR with expert support, but how quickly you are willing to reprogram your strategy for the road ahead.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why has car software become so complex and hard to manage?

Modern vehicles rely on tens of millions of lines of code for EV, IVI, ADAS, and autonomous features. Software complexity has grown faster than OEMs’ capabilities, making it difficult to manage architecture, quality, talent, and time-to-market with traditional, non-standardized approaches.

How is software reshaping the future of vehicles?

Software now defines user experience, safety, connectivity, and differentiation in vehicles. Code volume has multiplied in a decade and exceeds that of advanced aircraft. OEMs are investing heavily in engineers and SDV programs, yet their capabilities still lag the rapid growth and complexity of automotive software.

What is AUTOSAR and how does it address software complexity?

AUTOSAR is an open standard for automotive software and E/E architecture backed by major OEMs and suppliers. It reduces complexity by defining reusable components, standardized interfaces, and integration rules, enabling faster development, ECU interchangeability, and more reliable system integration across vehicle programs.

Who is behind AUTOSAR and what are its core goals?

AUTOSAR is driven by a global partnership of leading OEMs and Tier 1s such as BMW, Bosch, and Continental. Its goals are to standardize automotive software architecture, enable component reuse across platforms, simplify ECU integration, and improve development efficiency for complex electronic vehicle systems.

What are the main benefits and drawbacks of adopting AUTOSAR?

AUTOSAR promises reuse, flexibility, easier integration, and more efficient development, especially for complex domains like IVI and ADAS. However, it also brings architectural complexity, high upfront investment, and steep training and learning-curve costs, which can slow adoption and delay full business value.

Why do many OEMs struggle to realize AUTOSAR’s full value?

Despite clear benefits, AUTOSAR demands deep architectural expertise, extensive training, and major upfront investment in tools, processes, and people. Early projects often suffer from costly learning curves, while talent shortages and legacy ways of working slow rollout and limit the value captured.

How can third party partners speed up AUTOSAR adoption?

Specialized AUTOSAR service providers bring ready-made expertise, frameworks, and manpower, allowing OEMs and Tier 1s to launch AUTOSAR projects within months instead of years. They help bridge in-house skill gaps, cut trial and error, and transfer know-how so internal teams can scale more confidently over time.

When does it make sense to outsource AUTOSAR work to FPT?

Outsourcing to FPT is valuable when you face tight timelines, talent shortages, or complex safety and ASPICE requirements. With 12+ years in AUTOSAR, 500+ specialists, and ISO 26262 and ASPICE compliant delivery, FPT can own platform, BSW, integration, and testing work while upskilling your internal team.

What concrete results have OEMs achieved with FPT in AUTOSAR?

A leading Korean Tier 1 partnered with FPT to develop AUTOSAR BSW and ASIL D safety modules on Aurix targets. FPT delivered 76 modules with ASPICE Level 2 in 12 months, using up to 180 engineers and four test levels, demonstrating rapid, compliant execution under tight resource constraints.

How can we balance long term AUTOSAR investment with quick wins?

Combine strategic, long-term investment in internal AUTOSAR teams with targeted use of expert partners. Start by outsourcing complex or urgent work while embedding joint teams, then gradually internalize key competencies. This accelerates early wins, reduces risk, and builds sustainable AUTOSAR capability.