Schaeffler Automotive Symposium 2026 Beyond driving: Schaeffler offers E/E and software architectures for comprehensive vehicle control

2026-03-30 | Bühl

• In June 2026, the 13th Schaeffler Automotive Symposium in Bühl will present the Motion Technology Company as a forward-looking innovation leader in the mobility sector
• Presentation of technological highlights from the passenger car, commercial vehicle, and two-wheeler segment – structured into four technology clusters
• Focus cluster “Vehicle Control”: Schaeffler optimizes E/E and software architectures through its extensive system expertise

The mobility of the future is no longer being created solely on the roads but in interconnected, software-driven systems. Electrification, connectivity, automation, and software-defined solutions are presenting various opportunities to shape the future through innovation. At the 13th Schaeffler Automotive Symposium in June this year, the Motion Technology Company will present its product innovations and latest developments under the banner “Beyond Driving: Innovation made by Schaeffler”. Every four years, Schaeffler’s largest and most important event for automotive customers brings together experts, ideas and innovations from the mobility sector.

“At the Schaeffler Automotive Symposium, we are going beyond driving – with innovative, forward-looking, customer-driven solutions in the passenger car, commercial vehicle, and two-wheeler sector. In the midst of the biggest transformation of our industry, we are presenting ourselves as a key partner for our customers to shape the future of mobility together – a future that is decarbonized, automated, and interconnected,” says Matthias Zink, CEO Powertrain & Chassis at Schaeffler AG. “The four clusters – Vehicle Control, Chassis & Body, Powertrain, and Energy Management – underline Schaeffler’s comprehensive system expertise and high level of vertical integration.”

Vehicle control: product development at vehicle level
With the Vehicle Control cluster, Schaeffler is demonstrating its expertise in overarching vehicle systems and functions, including the necessary safety levels. “With Vehicle Control we are deliberately focusing development on the vehicle level: We no longer consider functions as individual components but as an interconnected, overall system. This is the key to high-performance software defined vehicles,” says Thomas Stierle, CEO E-Mobility at Schaeffler AG.

Consequently, Schaeffler offers an extensive product range for SDV (software-defined vehicle) architectures, including sensors and actuators, sub-systems with low and high voltage vehicle electrical systems, drive systems, Edge ECUs, and complex zone control devices. One focus area is the development of an innovative E/E system architecture that reduces the number of control units, enables hardware migrations across vehicle generations, and significantly shortens development times.

Solutions for high-performance vehicle electrical system architectures
In the future, vehicle functions will be controlled efficiently across domains. This is why Schaeffler is developing central E/E architectures around a multi domain controller (high performance computer, HPC). New hardware technologies such as Ethernet-based data channels in conjunction with the Remote Control Protocol (RCP) allow a significant reduction in decentralized control units, lower complexity, and significant cost efficiencies thanks to software centralization.

As Thomas Stierle, CEO E Mobility, points out: “For a software defined vehicle to be able to unleash its potential, it needs a centralized, robust and intelligent E/E architecture. And that’s exactly where we come in. We combine modern vehicle electrical systems with powerful electronics to create systems that are reliable, future-proof, and scalable across all vehicle classes.”

For example, Schaeffler is developing scalable vehicle electrical system architectures, including 48 volt systems, power electronics, and safety-critical system components like steer by wire, designed with redundancy for maximum reliability. These solutions form the basis for highly integrated vehicle functions and future-proof SDV architectures.