QNX, a division of BlackBerry, has released UK-specific findings from its global research study, Under the Hood: The SDV Developer Report, revealing that UK automotive software developers are grappling with complex regulatory demands, AI-driven transformation and long development cycles.
The report follows the UK government’s recent £2.5bn (US$3.3bn) Drive35 program to accelerate zero-emission vehicle production, R&D and supply chain transformation.
Regulatory pressure on SDV development
The regulatory landscape is increasingly complex for UK automotive software developers. In 2024, over 500 regulations and legislative proposals were introduced globally, affecting in-car technology. In the report, 43% of respondents cite regulatory compliance as the biggest challenge in the software development process. This complexity has left UK automotive software developers divided on the impact of new laws, with 39% saying regulations have accelerated timelines and an equal 39% reporting delays. Of those regulations, UK respondents rank cybersecurity regulations such as the Cyber Resilience Act, UNECE WP.29 and ISO/SAE 21434 (47%), software update and OTA compliance (44%), and data privacy regulations such as GDPR (37%), as the most challenging for their teams.
Recalls and bottlenecks forcing change
Compounding the impact of regulation on timelines and development processes are recent software recalls and failures. Over half (57%) of UK automotive software developers said that their teams’ approaches to software development had changed because of recalls, with 40% reporting major changes. Those delays are complicated by development bottlenecks, with respondents citing long cycles (41%), debugging and testing (39%) and integration complexity (39%) as significant pain points.
Security and safety for near-term SDV success
Cybersecurity is poised to have an increasing influence on the UK automotive sector and the rollout of SDVs. More than two-thirds (68%) say cybersecurity skills will be the most critical for automotive software developers in the near term. They also point to high demand for skills in functional safety (50%), AI/ML integration (50%) and real-time systems (47%). Strengthening these skills, says QNX, will be critical to overcoming the main barriers to SDV success, with UK respondents citing cybersecurity vulnerabilities (55%), regulatory uncertainty (45%) and consumer trust (38%) as the issues most likely to derail rollout efforts.
Overhyped features and unrealistic expectations
While a sizable chunk of UK respondents believe full vehicle autonomy (49%) and AI-driven personalization (48%) will shape SDVs by the end of the decade, they also view these features as receiving more attention than is warranted at this stage. UK automotive software developers also say that unrealistic expectations (51%) are creating a disconnect between consumers and software delivery timelines. The findings suggest that industry priorities may be skewed toward advanced features at the expense of addressing fundamental development challenges. Notably, 82% of UK developers believe a deliberately minimalist, lower-tech vehicle could achieve commercial success – highlighting demand for differentiated offerings that value simplicity.
AI poised to play a significant role in software development
Despite the perception that AI features are currently overhyped, the research also reveals that developers are optimistic about the role of the technology in automotive software, with 93% expecting it to play a transformational or significant role in the next three to five years.
“These findings confirm the challenges that UK auto makers face, with regulatory pressures, cybersecurity skills shortages and rising consumer expectations all combining to stall progress,” said Thomas Cardon, director for EMEA automotive sales at QNX. “AI will be part of the solution, but it’s no quick fix. The manufacturers leading the way in the UK are the ones using automation to ease bottlenecks, embedding compliance into their processes and focusing engineering talent on innovation that delivers safer, more secure and more reliable vehicles.”
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