---

Software Relationships are Keys To Automotive Industry's Success

5 January 2000

Software Development Process and Strategic Supplier Relationships -- Keys To Automotive Industry's Success In The Coming Millennium

  Those and Other Conclusions Reached at Second Annual Automotive Roundtable
                             Sponsored by I-Logix

    ANDOVER, Mass., Jan. 5 -- The automotive industry faces an
unprecedented challenge as software emerges as the key determinant of the
driver's experience behind the wheel, according to senior automotive
executives who participated in I-Logix Inc.'s second annual Automotive
Roundtable at the Frankfurt Auto Show.  As the global automotive industry
discovers a new area of product differentiation based on the 'smartness' of
the automobile and increased interactive services such as advanced security
and navigation systems, software development assumes a strategic importance in
the competitiveness of automotive companies.
    The roundtable, entitled "Supply Chain Integration in the Vehicle Software
Development Process," and chaired by Neeraj Chandra, senior vice president of
marketing and corporate development at I-Logix, assembled industry-leading
automotive executives from Bosch, DaimlerChrysler, Hella, Motorola, PSA,
Renault, VDO, Visteon, and Z-F, who discussed major issues facing software
development for the automobile and validated I-Logix' ongoing efforts to
address the industry's most current and challenging issues.
    "The [car] electronics industry moves on a much different product
development cycle than the [rest of the] automotive industry," said Dr. Gerd
Teepe, manager of the Motorola Strategy and Advanced Systems Laboratory.
"Telematics, for example, will change the whole environment and the way we
think.  As we begin to introduce features that are not a part of the car
itself or that can be enhanced after the car has been manufactured, the
software that is used to design those features increasingly represents the
value added."
    In addition to the rising complexity of features and the software that is
needed to bring them to market, the roundtable also focused on
standardization, intellectual property rights, and software development
process integration between OEMs and suppliers.  Also discussed were the need
for the two parties to develop a more strategic relationship, as well as the
key role played by a strategic partnership with the right software development
solutions provider.
    Daniel Presidio, manager of software engineering at Visteon Automotive
Systems, stated:  "I-Logix' Automotive Roundtable validated that some of our
company's experiences are consistent with those of other organizations in the
industry."  He also added:  "The need for a strategic relationship with the
suppliers, as well as issues of intellectual property rights ownership, are
major challenges facing our industry."
    I-Logix' Chandra, stated:  "The automotive industry is at an inflection
point - moving from 'selling the car' to 'selling the ride' - with driver's
experience as the competitive differentiator.  This dynamic, while raising the
strategic importance of vehicle software, has created many new challenges for
software development in the automotive industry.  Our Automotive Roundtable
provides an open forum for key decision-makers in the automotive industry to
discuss issues, share experiences, and develop new insights relating to
challenges faced in software development.  With our industry knowledge and
leading market position, we have been encouraged to host additional
roundtables as they are seen as an effective way to generate ideas for
bringing about the changes so urgently needed in today's automotive
electronics industry."

    About I-Logix
    I-Logix is a venture-backed, privately owned software company dedicated to
providing enterprise solutions for real-time embedded applications
development.  I-Logix' solutions enable embedded engineers to meet the dual
demands of time-to-market compression and exponential increase in application
complexity.  I-Logix' products allow engineers to graphically model the
behavior and functionality of embedded systems, analyze and validate the
behavior through simulation and animation, and automatically generate target-
deployable application code directly from the graphical model.

    I-Logix' technology supports the entire design flow, from concept to code,
across an enterprise, through an iterative approach called ROPES(TM) (Rapid
Object-Oriented Process for Embedded Systems), or through a customer's own
process.  I-Logix' solutions enable users to accelerate new product
development, increase competitiveness and generate quantifiable time and cost
savings.
    Founded in 1987, the company is headquartered in the U.S., with direct
sales offices in North America and Europe, and distributors in Asia.  I-Logix
focuses on six vertical markets consisting of aerospace/defense,
transportation, telecommunications/networking, consumer electronics/office
automation, medical devices and industrial automation.  I-Logix can be found
on the Internet at http://www.ilogix.com.