-
2026 State of Automotive Software Development Report
- Chapter 1 - What Are the Top Market Challenges Impacting Automotive Software Development?
- Chapter 2 - The Leading Concerns in Automotive Software and Technology Development
- Chapter 3 - Areas of Automotive Software Development
- Chapter 4 - Adoption & Implementation of Shift-Left
- Chapter 5 - Recalls and Software Vulnerabilities
- Chapter 6 - Automotive Software Security
- Chapter 7 - How Are Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs) Affecting Developers?
- Chapter 8 - Leading Trends in Automotive AI
- Chapter 9 - Why Standards Compliance Remains Vital for Automotive Development
- Chapter 10 - Key Coding Standards for Automotive Software Development
- Chapter 11 - How Development Teams Manage Their Work
- Chapter 12 - Which Software Tools Development Teams Are Using
- Chapter 13 - Open-Source Automotive Software
- Chapter 14 - Why Perforce Software Solutions Remain Essential for Automotive Software Development
- About the Survey — Appendix
Report > 2026 State of Automotive Software Development Report
About the Survey — Appendix
The 2026 State of Automotive Software Development Report is based on an anonymous survey conducted between September 17 and December 5, 2025. It targeted automotive professionals from across the globe and received 466 responses.
To help segment and analyze the survey results, we asked respondents basic demographic questions.
Experience
Those that participated in the survey presented a range of professional experience from less than a year to more than 10. We received a balanced sample of respondents in this category.
Region
Those that participated in the survey are from seven geographical regions, with Asia, Europe/UK, and North America representing the majority of the responses.
Country (Europe/UK)
Among those respondents who are from the Europe/UK region, the majority of respondents are from Germany (37%) and various “Other” countries (29%).
Country (Asia-Pacific)
Among those respondents who are from the Asia-Pacific region, the majority of respondents are from India (35%), China (27%), and Japan (19%).
Company Size
Those that participated in the survey work for companies of all sizes, with a good distribution between enterprise, large, medium, and small organizations being represented in the survey.
Organization Type
Those that participated in the survey work primarily for Tier 1 suppliers and OEMs, but there were also respondents from Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers.
Role and Area in the Organization
To help readers of this report better understand who participated in the survey, we asked the respondents about their area of automotive development, as well as their current roles. It was not surprising to see that “software development/engineering” was the top selection, but there are a large variety of roles, including testing and research and development under the “other” category.
Have comments or suggestions for next year’s report?
Share them with us by emailing [email protected] with the subject line “Automotive Software Development 2026.”
About Perforce
The best run DevOps teams in the world choose Perforce. Powered by advanced technology, including powerful AI that takes you from AI ambition to real results, the Perforce suite is purpose-built to handle complexity, maintain speed without compromise, and ensure end-to-end integrity across your DevOps toolchain. With a global footprint spanning more than 80 countries and including over 75% of the Fortune 100, Perforce is the trusted partner for innovation.
Harness the power of AI and accelerate your technology delivery without shortcuts. Build, scale, and innovate with Perforce — where efficiency meets intelligence.