India is emerging as a global hub for Software-Defined Vehicles, blending software expertise with engineering innovation to lead the mobility transformation—powered by agile methods, digital platforms, and deep industry collaboration.
19 Jul 2025 | 1090 Views | By Rajkiran C, PTC India
In the engineering labs of Pune, the software clusters of Bengaluru, and the auto corridors of Chennai and Sanand, a quiet revolution is underway. India is not just building more vehicles — it’s building smarter, software-driven machines that adapt, evolve, and improve even after they leave the factory floor.
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In the engineering labs of Pune, the software clusters of Bengaluru, and the auto corridors of Chennai and Sanand, a quiet revolution is underway. India is not just building more vehicles — it’s building smarter, software-driven machines that adapt, evolve, and improve even after they leave the factory floor.
We are entering the era of the Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) — and India, with its unmatched software talent, deep engineering culture, and scale-ready pragmatism, is uniquely positioned not just to ride the wave — but to lead it.
The Vehicle is Changing — and So Are the Rules
Today’s vehicles are increasingly less about horsepower and more about logic. Climate control, regenerative braking, infotainment, navigation, driver assistance — nearly every function inside a modern vehicle is governed by software. Some of the most advanced vehicles on the road today run over 100 million lines of software code — more than some commercial aircraft.
And this software doesn’t sit still. Through over-the-air (OTA) updates, cars can now receive new features, fixes, and even behaviour tuning long after they leave the assembly line. In this model, the vehicle becomes a living product — evolving through time.
What used to be a mechanical marvel is now a software-defined, cloud-connected platform. And no country is better equipped than India to power this new definition of mobility.
India: Where the Future is Already Being Engineered
India’s software prowess is no longer behind the scenes. From Daimler and Stellantis to Volvo, Bosch, BMW and ZF, nearly every global OEM and Tier 1 supplier now operates significant engineering and software R&D centers in India. And they’re not supporting — they’re leading: designing embedded systems, defining domain architectures, developing EV powertrain software, and simulating system behaviour for global platforms.
Indian OEMs are stepping up too. Tata Motors, Mahindra, Ashok Leyland, and a growing constellation of EV startups are building connected, software-defined platforms designed to scale across price points and markets.
What’s emerging is a new India — not just an assembly hub or cost-center — but a global engineering powerhouse for SDVs.
Engineering in the Age of SDVs: Agile, Integrated, Digital
SDVs demand not just new features — they demand a new engineering rhythm. Traditional “waterfall” methods, where mechanical, electrical, and software teams worked in silos, simply can’t deliver at the speed and scale required today, under pressure from “China speed”.
In India, engineering teams are moving fast to adopt agile, iterative approaches, where cross-disciplinary teams work in parallel, sprint cycles replace Gantt charts, and integration happens early and often.
To make this shift successful, companies are relying on digital platforms that connect every function — from system modeling and mechanical design to software configuration and field services.
PTC: Quietly Powering the SDV Engineering Lifecycle
PTC isn’t building cars or embedded vehicle software. What it does is enable the companies who do — with powerful tools to design, develop, validate, manage, and support SDVs at scale.
It starts with Creo, PTC’s mechanical CAD solution, long trusted in India’s design offices. But in the SDV world, Creo is no longer just about solid models — it integrates seamlessly with simulation and systems design.
As products grow in complexity, Windchill provides a unified PLM backbone — orchestrating bills of material, change management, configurations, and cross-functional collaboration across the product lifecycle.
Requirements, safety-critical software, and test plans are managed in Codebeamer, PTC’s ALM platform — providing traceability across regulations like ISO 26262 and ASPICE. Meanwhile, PTC Modeler brings model-based systems engineering (MBSE) to life, helping teams simulate multi-domain behaviour long before hardware is built.
And as companies contend with the explosion of product variants — across trims, markets, powertrains, and regulatory packages — pure::variants, integrated into PTC’s ecosystem, brings control and reuse to this complexity, reducing duplication and accelerating product release.
But the journey doesn’t end when the vehicle rolls out. SDVs demand continuous service support — updated diagnostics, personalized manuals, dynamic spare parts catalogs, and efficient field operations. These are all seamlessly managed through PTC’s Service Lifecycle Management capabilities — ensuring that the same digital thread that supports design also supports service, long into the life of the vehicle.
PTC’s open architecture ensures Indian OEMs and suppliers can integrate with legacy tools, global standards, and homegrown systems — vital in an ecosystem where flexibility and speed are paramount.
And significantly, over 2000 out of the 7000 employees are based in India, making it the company’s largest global R&D hub. Most of that workforce is in R&D, shaping the very tools now being used by India’s most advanced mobility innovators.
With platforms like PTC’s — already trusted by global leaders and deeply embedded in Indian teams — our industry is now able to design safer, smarter, and more responsive vehicles without compromising quality or compliance.
The Road Ahead: Indian Ingenuity at Global Scale
Across India, the signs are clear: connected scooters that adjust ride profiles based on user behaviour; commercial fleets that self-monitor and update over the air; electric SUVs that personalize drive modes and support remote diagnostics.
These aren’t isolated case studies. They’re signals of a new India — confident in engineering, agile in execution, and ambitious in scale.
In the SDV era, the vehicle is no longer defined at the factory. It is co-developed in the field, with the customer, through code. And India — with its deep digital DNA, its growing automotive ecosystem, and its world-class partners — is at the heart of this transformation.
Finally - The Future Is Software. And India Is Ready.
The SDV era is not defined by horsepower but by responsiveness, reliability, and rapid innovation. To thrive, companies must be able to move from idea to delivery, from requirement to repair, with software-level agility and system-level discipline.
India has the engineers. We have the experience. And with platforms like PTC’s — developed here, supported here, and deeply embedded in the way we build — we also have the tools.
As we move from component suppliers to system integrators, from cost centers to capability hubs, the message is clear: India is not just along for the SDV ride. We’re in the driver’s seat.
Rajkiran C is Senior Director – Enterprise Business at PTC India. Views expressed are the author's personal.