The Key Takeaways from IAA Mobility 2025 That You Should Know

Every two years, IAA Mobility transforms Munich into the world’s automotive capital. The event has become one of the most important stages for bringing together automakers, technology providers, policymakers, and consumers, and unveiling the innovations shaping the future of the automotive industry.

With nearly every global OEM today relying on Arm technology as the foundational compute platform, IAA Mobility is the perfect stage to show how Arm is helping the automotive industry tackle its biggest challenges today and in the future. These include enabling safe AI adoption, simplifying software development, and scaling next-generation compute for everything from in-vehicle infotainment to advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).

Here are the key highlights and takeaways from IAA Mobility 2025 in Munich.

Software-defined Vehicles Take Centre Stage at IAA Mobility 2025

Dipti Vachani, SVP & GM of the Automotive Line of Business at Arm, joined leaders from BMW Group, Google, Sonatus, Accenture, and Automotive News to explore a critical question: What will it take to unlock the full potential of software-defined vehicles (SDVs)?

The discussion highlighted a major shift happening in the industry where cars are becoming intelligent updatable platforms in which software will drive much of the value. However, no company can deliver this transformation alone, and this will require deep collaboration across silicon, software, and cloud infrastructure.

With Zena Compute Subsystem (CSS), Arm offers a standardized, pre-integrated compute platform that reduces complexity and accelerates silicon development. Meanwhile, at the software level, initiatives like SOAFEE are creating open, cloud-native frameworks that make it easier to build and scale SDV solutions across diverse hardware.

Learn more about Arm Zena CSS

The All-New Mercedes-Benz Electric GLC with EQ Technology

At IAA Mobility 2025, Mercedes-Benz made headlines with the world premiere of the all-new electric GLC with EQ technology, reinforcing its push toward electrification and software-defined innovation. Alongside the new addition to the CLA family, Mercedes-Benz also showcased how compute and software are now as important to the driving experience as performance and design.

Mercedes-Benz continues to pioneer SDV experiences with Arm as a central piece of its compute, supporting features like over-the-air (OTA) updates, intelligent personalization, and the separation of safety-critical and infotainment systems.  

AWS and HERE Launch SDV Accelerator Built on Arm

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and HERE Technologies introduced the SDV Accelerator, a cloud-based solution designed to help automakers build and test SDVs faster. Arm is bringing its compute expertise into a curated set of tools and reference architectures that are available through AWS Marketplace.

By combining AWS cloud services, HERE’s mapping technology, and the Arm compute platform, the SDV Accelerator gives OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers a ready-made starting point to reduce integration time, cut complexity, and help teams bring next-generation SDVs to market sooner.

Scaling Autonomous Mobility with Nuro and Arm

Nuro’s presence at IAA Mobility 2025 underscored how autonomy is moving from experimental to practical, with cloud integration and Arm’s foundational technology at the center of this transition. Featured in the Google Cloud booth, Nuro showcased the role of AI and cloud in advancing autonomous mobility.

This builds on its ongoing collaboration with Arm to develop the next generation of Nuro Driver, an L4 autonomous system designed to scale beyond pilots and into mass deployment. Shifting from server-grade prototypes to automotive-grade platforms built on Arm Automotive Enhanced (AE) technology is helping Nuro ensure that the system is efficient, safety-certified, and tailored for real-world deployment. 

Enabling Edge AI in Vehicles with AI Director from Sonatus

Sonatus unveiled the first public demo of its new AI Director platform, an in-vehicle solution designed to help automakers manage AI workloads directly at the edge. The platform covers the full AI lifecycle, from training and optimization to deployment and continuous monitoring, further enabling OEMs to integrate and update AI features more easily over a vehicle’s lifetime.

Using the Arm compute platform, Sontaus AI Director is delivering personalized driving, smarter safety features, and adaptive in-vehicle experiences without relying exclusively on the cloud.

Pioneering AI-Defined Vehicle Era with ThunderSoft

At IAA Mobility 2025, ThunderSoft announced its AIOS + AIBOX solution in collaboration with Geely Automobile Group and NVIDIA. Built on Arm-based NVIDIA Orin and the DRIVE AGX Platform, the solution integrates cockpit and intelligent driving functions to support the industry’s transition toward AI-defined vehicles.

Shaping the next wave of intelligent mobility with automakers from China

Various OEMs from China made a strong impression with new models and strategies that highlighted significant advancements in electrification, intelligence, and safety during IAA Mobility 2025 in Munich. Brands including BYD, XPENG Motors, and GAC unveiled vehicles and concepts that signal how some of China’s leading automakers are expanding their footprint in Europe, all while accelerating innovation at home.

These standout vehicle debuts also illustrate the automotive industry’s shift from hardware competition to software-defined and experience-driven mobility. Arm continues to be the foundation of this progress, with the innovations presented during the event showcasing how Arm’s ecosystem is supporting leading Chinese OEMs as they expand worldwide and accelerate the adoption of intelligent and AI-defined mobility.

Enabling Next-Generation ADAS with Horizon Robotics

Horizon Robotics showcased its Horizon SuperDrive (HSD) urban NOA solution and the Journey 6 processing hardware. With more than 10 million Journey units shipped and over 40 OEM partners, Horizon has become a leader in bringing ADAS and urban navigate on autopilot (NOA) at scale.  

Built on Arm-based CPU cores, the Journey 6 series delivers the performance and safety features needed for ADAS and AI workloads, making intelligent driving a practical reality for millions of drivers around the world.

Safety-first Compute for SDVs with STMicroelectronics

During IAA Mobility 2025, STMicroelectronics drew attention with its “Stellar” family of automotive microcontrollers that are ISO-safety oriented and integrate the Arm Cortex-R series. The Stellar line spans from low-end to high-end automotive applications, supporting features like real-time virtualization, improved in-vehicle connectivity, and extensible embedded memory (xMemory) for OTA updates.

The company is playing a key role in enabling SDV architectures, particularly in components like body and zone controllers, powertrain management, and networked systems, areas where reliable efficient compute makes a practical difference.

The Future of Mobility is Software-Driven, AI-Defined, and Built on Arm

IAA Mobility 2025 made clear that the next phase of automotive innovation is driven by software and defined by AI. As safety, infotainment, and autonomy converge, vehicles will demand compute platforms that are efficient, scalable, and reliable. The technologies on display in Munich this year showed how the future of automotive is taking shape today and increasingly defined by AI. At the core of all these advancements is the Arm platform, providing the compute foundation for the future of automotive.