SUNNYVALE, Calif., December 7, 2023 – Sonatus, a leading automotive software company accelerating the transition to software-defined vehicles (SDVs), today announced the Sonatus Vehicle Personalization Solution enabling automakers to put the power of personalization directly into the hands of their customers and offering them the ability to automatically tailor their vehicle settings and driving experiences according to their preferences. The Solution will be available for production use in Q1 2024 and builds on the deployment of the Sonatus Vehicle Platform in over 1 million vehicles to date.
Consumers increasingly expect the ability to personalize their cars to their unique preferences and driving styles. In a survey commissioned by Sonatus, 83 percent of respondents said they expect automated profile personalization to become the standard in all vehicles (not just in luxury vehicles). Additionally, with more than four in five reporting automated personalization features as something they’d like to have (56 percent) or even a must-have (27 percent) for their next vehicle, drivers are willing to go the extra mile to get it: more than half (54 percent) would switch to a different brand for these features, and even more (66 percent) would purchase an upgraded model to get them.
In the quest to offer dynamic and ever-evolving in-vehicle user experiences, the automotive industry is rapidly moving towards SDVs. With the Vehicle Personalization Solution, Sonatus is introducing a cost-effective – yet technically advanced – way for OEMs to put the power of personalization directly into their customer’s hands for all types of vehicles, not just premium models as is typical today.
The Vehicle Personalization Solution equips OEMs with the ability to create cloud, in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), and smartphone applications that let end users ranging from individual owners to fleet managers define customized routines to automate everything from cabin ambiance and drivetrain settings to sophisticated interactions with smart homes and IoT devices.
“The automotive industry is looking to software to rapidly build novel experiences tailored to individual users,” said Jeff Chou, CEO and co-founder of Sonatus. “The Sonatus Vehicle Personalization Solution goes one step further, empowering drivers and fleet managers to create the vehicle experiences they prefer, while providing OEMs with capabilities that build positive brand affinity across a wide range of vehicle price points.”
The Vehicle Personalization Solution is built on the versatile foundation of Sonatus Automator, a no-code orchestration and automation framework for creating routines in the cloud and instantly applying them to vehicles at any point in their lifecycle. The solution provides an SDK comprising Sonatus Automator, APIs, and documentation, which empowers OEMs to rapidly develop end user-facing personalization applications and routines. The routines allow users to automatically apply their preferred settings, for example adjusting the drive mode, seat position, ambient lighting, and much more, either for an individual driver or dynamically adjusting settings in specific situations like highway driving, driving at night, or in the rain.
Sonatus is working with Marelli and AWS to demonstrate the power of this solution in action at CES 2024. Marelli integrated the Vehicle Personalization Solution into its Digital Cockpit to let end users customize and automate vehicle settings using simple, yet highly flexible, “if-this-then-that” routines. Automator Cloud runs on AWS, which serves as a robust online platform to store and manage user preferences.
“The Sonatus Vehicle Personalization Solution brings the full configurability of Marelli’s Digital Cockpit to life,” said Nate Sladek, VP of Strategy and Product Management at Marelli Electronic Systems. “Users are now able to automatically apply their preferences for in-vehicle comfort, convenience, and driving modes for a tailored experience. Additionally, AWS provides the ideal cloud infrastructure to bring these unique innovations to life. Through Sonatus’s vehicle personalization and AWS’s cloud solutions, Marelli’s Digital Cockpit is poised to become both end users’ and OEMs’ preferred solution.”
“The industry’s pace of innovation in its quest for software-defined mobility has never been faster, and a collaborative approach is critical for automakers to surprise and delight drivers on the road,” said Stefano Marzani, Worldwide Tech Leader, SDV, AWS. “AWS’s work with Sonatus and Marelli is helping foster the industry’s shift to SDV, and we look forward to demonstrating how the power of the cloud is making next-generation vehicle customization a reality.”
“As vehicles become more advanced, we are seeing a clear trend where consumers expect their vehicles to be more connected and configurable, just like their mobile devices,” said Maitê Bezerra, Principal Analyst, Software Defined Vehicles, Informa Tech. “The Sonatus Vehicle Personalization Solution unlocks one beneficial attribute of SDVs, putting an easy-to-use, useful configuration tool in the hands of OEMs, fleet managers, and vehicle owners.”
Find Sonatus at CES in West Hall, booth #4325. For more information about Sonatus at CES or to arrange a meeting, please visit https://www.sonatus.com/ces-2024.
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About Sonatus
Sonatus is accelerating vehicle software innovation and the transition towards software-defined vehicles. The diverse products comprising the Sonatus Vehicle Platform serve as the key building blocks that allow automotive companies and their ecosystem to fast forward to the future of mobility and deliver continuous improvements in costs, capabilities, reliability, and user experience over the vehicle lifespan. Sonatus’ award-winning software platform is in mass production in over 1 million vehicles from Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis today and will grow to millions of cars by 2024. The company has raised more than $110 million USD with world-class automotive, technology, and venture investors including Foxconn, Hyundai Motor Group’s Kia Corporation, LG Electronics, Marvell, NEC and Translink Orchestrating Future Fund, SAIC Capital, Translink Capital, UMC Capital, and Wanxiang. Sonatus is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA (Silicon Valley), with offices in Dublin, Paris, Shanghai, Seoul, Taipei, and Tokyo. Sonatus is a trademark of Sonatus, Inc. For more information visit www.sonatus.com.