The automotive industry is experiencing a huge transformation. It is evolving into a sector increasingly dominated by software. Trends such as connectivity and autonomous driving are shifting the industry’s focus towards “software defined vehicles”. Consequently, automotive companies are developing software-defined architectures, enhancing their software expertise with skilled personnel, and continuously refining their software development processes.

The challenges faced in these activities include the growing complexity of software and the increasing importance of safety. The release process and field experience management are expanding in scope and require reassessment. The aviation industry, with its extensive experience in developing complex, safety-critical features and maintaining an excellent safety record over the past decades, offers valuable insights that can benefit automotive software development.

The research is divided into four main sections. Initially, an analysis is conducted to spot potential focus areas with high transfer potential from aviation to automotive. The result indicates that the development lifecycle (following the V-Model) presents opportunities for beneficial transfer. The second step involves creating a model to quantify any transferred method. This quantification provides a measurable value for the feasibility of each proposed transfer and serves as a key performance indicator to determine its profitability. It is also necessary to assign a quantified feasibility rating for each transfer proposal defined in the system and software sections. During the development of the model a module is integrated into the calculation that helps consider automotive developers´ preferences which were identified via an employee survey.

The investigation of the development lifecycle is split into system and software levels. At the system level, assessment structure and certification planning are highlighted as important lessons learned. Additionally, the safety process offers significant benefits for the automotive sector. The iterative and rigorous safety development process is identified as a key factor in aviation’s overall safety record. Particularly, experience with common cause handling is deemed crucial and is thoroughly investigated to address potential gaps in automotive, using an identification model developed with aviation best practices.

Last section elaborates on the potentials of software development lifecycle. A stepwise comparison is performed following the structure of DO-178c as well as ISO26262 part 6 to figure out potential transfer options. In the objectives and planning section importance of early certification activities and involvement of authorities is highlighted. Development section includes requirements, design, implementation, and verification. As part of development section, architectural aspects are investigated. Where aviation has benefited from cost and weight saving approaches like integrated modular avionics a huge benefit is anticipated also for automotive in its current journey towards new software platforms with main focus on software defined vehicles.