Honda's Membership Gives JASPAR Critical Mass, According to ABI Research.

OYSTER BAY, N.Y. -- Honda's decision to join the JASPAR (Japan Automotive Software Platform and Architecture) consortium formed recently by Toyota and Nissan lends great credibility to the group. It presents a challenge for proponents of new or existing standards worldwide, and an opportunity for smaller technology innovators to help shape future Japanese vehicles.

JASPAR, created to develop a unified architecture for vehicle networking and software development, now includes the "big three" OEM players in the region enjoying increasing automotive production levels.

According to ABI Research analyst Dan Benjamin, the group is a significant departure for Japanese OEMs, which were among the last to join such international collaborations such as FlexRay, and remain key abstainers from other standards.

There is strong international will to establish standards. The benefits are clear: automakers can draw from a "global parts bin"; suppliers aren't tied to one customer; costs are lowered, and developers' skills better focused.

JASPAR says that it's inclusive and will contribute to the standards-setting efforts of other consortia. But what are the implications for automotive network and software development around the world?

"Only time will tell if JASPAR truly brings unity to networking and software used by Japanese OEMs and their suppliers," offers Benjamin, "but if Honda, Nissan, and Toyota really stick to this consortium, would you want to be the automotive supplier that ignores them?"

But he also sees JASPAR as an opportunity for "silicon" companies to get in on the ground floor of a new standards development process.

Standards take time, and products based on JASPAR's work are unlikely to appear before 2009. Meanwhile, ABI Research's new report, "In-Vehicle Networking," finds significant momentum among nearly all major OEMs in migrating from proprietary standards to CAN, LIN, FlexRay, MOST, IEEE 1394, and others. The report forecasts the use of these protocols through the end of the decade.

Founded in 1990 and headquartered in New York, ABI Research maintains global operations that support annual research programs, quarterly intelligence services and market reports in wireless, automotive, semiconductors, broadband, and energy. Their market research products can be found on the Web at www.abiresearch.com, or by calling 516.624.3113.