Upper Austrian vehicle expertise at top events

Thomas Stottan and AUDIO MOBIL Elektronik GmbH, which he has headed as CEO for over 25 years, are inextricably linked in the automotive industry with visionary ideas and innovations relating to vehicle networking and operation. The domestic research and development company is a supplier to BMW, Daimler, Volkswagen and Porsche, among others.

It is also thanks to the company's innovative strength that Thomas Stottan is regularly invited to speak at top events and gives event participants a glimpse into the future of mobility.

AutoContact - the industry get-together of the Styrian automotive cluster - and the Salzburg Transport Days were the latest stops in this regard in September and October of this year. In vivid presentations, Stottan highlighted the challenges of future mobility models and the associated economic market potential and was able to inspire the numerous participants with previously unknown approaches to CarICT.

Greatest market potential for IT components in vehicles

"Vehicle connectivity is a completely underestimated market segment in the automotive sector with above-average potential - we need to help shape the future here and contribute our expertise accordingly," says Stottan.

Contrary to prevailing opinions about an economically ailing automotive industry, especially in connection with the current emissions scandal at Volkswagen, a market segment worth around EUR 150 billion or more can be forecast for the industry by tapping into the Europe-wide market for individualized vehicle connectivity. "For Austria alone, this would result in a sales volume of EUR 20 billion or more," continues Stottan.

Human-machine interfaces as a solution for modern locomotion

In connection with the booming sectors of vehicle networking and "autonomous driving", intuitive vehicle operation should not be overlooked. As can be seen from the drivers of this autonomous mobility, mostly the car manufacturers themselves, fully autonomous mobility will be a long time coming. In the meantime, clever solutions need to be found for the long interim phase of semi-autonomous mobility.

"Basically, modern vehicles have had systems for semi-autonomous driving for some time now. After all, sensors such as distance radar, lane assistants etc. have to be included in this context. The key to the success of the connected vehicle and autonomous driving will be highly intuitive and situationally adaptable HMIs (human-machine interfaces), which on the one hand relieve us of the rudimentary tasks of driving, but on the other hand also leave us with the security of being able to intervene directly in the driving process in an emergency. However, the explicit requirements of women and men are also different and therefore need to be considered separately," says Stottan, commenting on the numerous tasks facing the automotive industry.

It will therefore be interesting to see what innovations drivers will be confronted with in the near future, as well-known IT giants are now also pushing their way into the previously clearly structured world of the automobile.