The automotive industry is experiencing two simultaneous revolutions: electrification and automation. These disruptions, like the decline of horse-drawn carriages in the early 20th century, are of a magnitude not seen in a hundred years. While the concerns about global warming and regulations are fostering electrification, automation in mobility is driven by the technology’s societal benefits relating to safety, convenience, reliability and equity. Sona Comstar’s vision is to become a significant player in electric, autonomous, and connected vehicles, offering integrated solutions to our global customers. Our R&D efforts are directed towards this goal, and our technology roadmap displays these very intentions.

The right quadrant of this roadmap began evolving in 2016 when we first developed our advanced technology differential gears specifically for high-performance electric passenger vehicles. Since then, the quadrant has expanded to its present shape. As the automation in the vehicles moves to higher levels, many systems and sub-systems in the car will get ‘smarter’. They will need computing intelligence and closely integrated sensing and actuation functions. Realizing the tremendous potential in this area, we expanded our roadmap to the quadrant on the left to address the emerging sensing, perception, and telematics needs of autonomous vehicles.

The chart lays out the way forward for our technology development and the acquisition of competencies. It represents our technical capabilities in material science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, electronics, and software. It also shows our past, present, and future product offerings, depicted by the dark area for our legacy, and core products, the blue area for the products we developed in recent years, and the white area for our aspirations for the future. The products in the white region are currently under development in our R&D Centres and will move to the blue area as their development fructifies.