Red Hat announced on May 11 a new engineering initiative with Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. to develop the next-generation software-defined vehicle platform for Nissan. The partnership will use the Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System as the foundation for Nissan’s Central Vehicle Computer, which is part of its Scalable Open Software Platform.
The collaboration is important as it supports Nissan’s move toward flexible, software-driven mobility architectures and away from hardware-dependent systems. By adopting an open source Linux-based operating system, Nissan aims to provide long-term support and agility in updating vehicle features while maintaining safety and security standards.
Kazuma Sugimoto, general manager of SDV Software Platform Development Department at Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., said, “Nissan is taking direct ownership of our software development lifecycle to better serve our customers in the mobility era. We chose Red Hat because they provide the technical depth required for a mission-critical platform that must remain on the road for decades. This joint engineering initiative for our next-generation Central Vehicle Computer gives us the agility to pivot and scale innovation across our global fleet.”
Francis Chow, vice president and general manager of In-Vehicle Operating System at Red Hat, said, “The shift toward software-defined vehicles requires a fundamental change in how automotive software is developed and maintained. Through our collaboration with Nissan, we are working to deliver a reliable, open source foundation for the next generation of in-vehicle computing and establish a standardized platform that supports long-term innovation and scalability for the global automotive industry.”
Red Hat’s approach involves embedding its engineering talent directly into Nissan’s development process so both companies can co-create a unified platform without traditional integration challenges. This method aims to help Nissan control its software stack more closely while scaling innovations globally.
Looking ahead, both companies are positioning this collaboration as key to meeting evolving customer expectations through AI-driven workflows and streamlined validation cycles.
