Full view of the Kotei booth at Auto China 2026. The slogan "AI + Leader in Automotive Software" anchors the front of the booth, with SDW and AI    Automotive as the two central axes.

Automotive software development automation and virtual validation are already the direction the entire global industry is heading. What made the Kotei booth at Auto China 2026 worth stopping at was not the invention of a new concept, but rather the reframing of this movement around the compressed development cycles of Chinese OEMs and the challenge of meeting overseas regulatory requirements. AI Agents, AUTOSAR automation, simulation-based compliance verification - all of these lead back to the same question. The competition in automotive software is shifting away from features themselves, toward how quickly and repeatably those features can be developed, validated, and deployed.

By Sang Min Han _ han@autoelectronics.co.kr
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On one screen inside a Beijing exhibition hall, German traffic law was running in real time.
Each item marked green or red. Compliant, or not. A record of violations, timestamped. The vehicle was inside a simulation.
"ADAS products must complete local regulatory certification before market launch."
The engineer said it matter-of-factly. An obvious statement. But something about it was not obvious at all. The company showing this was a software firm headquartered in Wuhan, China. And the regulations on screen were not Chinese - they were German.
Kotei. Founded in Wuhan in 2002. Listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, with approximately 1,800 employees. The company covers smart cockpit, autonomous driving, AUTOSAR-based vehicle software platforms, intelligent navigation, and XCU - a full-stack automotive software house. There is no independent software company of this kind in Korea.
There is no hardware in the booth - or more precisely, there is hardware, but it might as well not be there. A few ECU boards sit quietly inside glass cases. They belong to partner companies. Every board carries the same label: "KOTEI A  OS inside."
"We only provide software. The hardware is made by our customers."
The Kotei booth at Auto China 2026 was not telling a story about vehicle software itself. It was telling a story about how that software gets made. Two axes ran side by side across the front of the booth. On the left, a large screen displayed the text "SDW - The AI-Driven New Paradigm in Software Development," alongside a comparison chart: "SDW 3.0 vs. Current Industry Approach." On the right, under a sign reading "Data-Driven ADAS Development Platform," a six-stage closed-loop animation played on repeat.




Kotei booth A  OS display area. The screen explains E-GAS architecture design and AUTOSAR Agent-based BSW auto-configuration, based on a standard AUTOSAR layered architecture. Partner-supplied ECU boards inside the glass case each carry a "KOTEI A  OS inside" label.



Agents Write the Code

Kotei's core platform is SDW - Software DreamWorks. The architecture is a multi-agent system. A REQ Agent handles requirements analysis. A DEV Agent generates code. A TEST Agent automates testing. A PM Agent manages projects. This is not AI sitting on top of each development stage as a helper. The development stages themselves have been redesigned around AI Agents.
The number Kotei emphasizes is 80:20. Eighty percent AI automation, twenty percent human involvement. AUTOSAR configuration, code generation, unit testing - all handled by LLM-based processes. Side by side on the booth screen: the traditional approach, where engineers operate toolchains directly, versus the SDW approach, where an AUTOSAR Expert Agent proposes configurations based on a knowledge graph and corrects errors in real time.
The 80% figure is Kotei's claim. But the point Kotei is actually making goes beyond the automation ratio. What this company is trying to change is not the speed at which code gets written - it's the development loop itself: the chain connecting requirements, configuration, validation, and testing.
This direction is not entirely new. Vector, Elektrobit, ETAS, and other global automotive software companies are already moving toward development automation, CI/CD, virtual validation, and AI-based engineering. What distinguishes Kotei is that it is pushing this harder, built around the compressed development cycles of Chinese OEMs and AI-native workflows.
The role of the engineer shifts too. The person who once operated toolchains directly becomes someone who gives direction to AI. Kotei calls this the move from "operator to commander." It is what the company means by a "meta-software" position - software that makes software.
The practical foundation for this positioning is the pace of Chinese OEM development. New vehicle development cycles in China have already compressed to twelve to eighteen months. In that environment, demand for a development automation layer is real. SDW is aimed directly at that space.




Data-Driven ADAS Development Platform display area. A six-stage closed-loop flow - from real-road data collection through labeling, model training, simulation testing, and software revision - plays on repeat. The DreamCar DataLoop solution is introduced on the product card at the desk.



Rules Become Code

Step deeper into the booth and the conversation changes. Here, the subject is not development automation - it is regulatory validation.
Beneath the "Data-Driven ADAS Development Platform" banner, a six-stage loop plays on repeat: real-road data collection    data management    data labeling    algorithm model training    simulation testing    software revision. DreamCar DataLoop handles collection, management, and labeling. DreamCarSim provides the simulation environment. The two connect as a single platform.
"For example, we label conditions like rain or overcast weather. Then we use that data to train the ADAS algorithm model."
What stood out was the end of the loop. Simulation results were not simply checked for functional performance - they were automatically cross-referenced against local traffic regulations. On screen, a checklist labeled "Compliant Rules / Non-Compliant Rules" updated in real time, items turning green or red. The criteria were drawn from German traffic law. Violations appeared with timestamps attached.
"ADAS products must complete local regulatory certification before market launch. This software allows us to review Level 3 and above regulations, and confirm whether a vehicle or algorithm actually meets the applicable rules."
This is where the partner enters: Ignite, a pure-software entity established within FORVIA HELLA in early 2025. Its core product is a Traffic Rules Engine - software that converts traffic laws from different countries into machine-readable code, and verifies in real time whether the decisions made by an automated vehicle comply with those laws. Developed in cooperation with TUV Rheinland, it already covers three markets: the US DMV, EU R157, and China's GB/T.
DreamCarSim and Ignite's Traffic Rules Engine fill different gaps. DreamCarSim offers a high-fidelity simulation environment but has no regulatory engine. Ignite can codify regulations but has no simulation environment. Together, they complete a structure that allows compliance verification in a virtual environment - no real-road testing required. Kotei calls this "Regulation as Code." The partnership was signed at Auto China 2026, between Kotei Germany and Ignite by FORVIA HELLA.
One detail from the booth explanation stood out. The description did not begin at Level 3 - it began at Level 2++. Because that is where the actual market is right now. Chinese OEM competition in NOA has already moved into Level 2++ territory at scale, and exporting those capabilities to Europe or the United States means navigating local regulatory certification as the first major barrier. The first customers Kotei and Ignite are going after are Chinese OEMs trying to reach Europe.




Simulation-based regulatory validation demo screen. Virtual driving simulation results are cross-referenced in real time against traffic law requirements including German road regulations. Compliant items appear in green; violation history is shown in red with timestamps.



What Comes Before the Technology

The fact that the FORVIA partnership was signed by Kotei Germany is a meaningful detail. Kotei already operates a German entity, part of six global locations spanning Japan, North America, and Europe.
The architect of this European business is Lv Nan - Kotei's Global VP and CEO of Kotei Germany. His career began at Continental, continuing through Continental Automotive Systems, and including a role as Managing Director China at Akebono Brake. The FORVIA HELLA Ignite partnership was signed under his name.
Entering the European market is not explained by technology alone. Data sovereignty, GDPR, cybersecurity certification, supply stability - these non-technical factors require a local network capable of navigating them. Lv Nan's background signals that Kotei is not positioning itself as a software subcontractor. It is positioning itself to enter the global automotive supply chain directly.



The Way Automotive Software Gets Made Is Changing

Kotei is pursuing what might be called a meta-software position - a company that supplies the software for making vehicle software. The 80% automation claim may still be a catchphrase in search of independent verification. The Ignite collaboration will take time to accumulate production references. That said, Kotei is already in production with a Horizon Robotics Journey 6-based integrated driving and parking solution.
What matters is the direction.
Competition in Chinese SDV development is no longer only about vehicle features - it is increasingly about how quickly and repeatably those features can be built, validated, and shipped. If SDV was a change in architecture, what Kotei calls AIDV - AI Defined Vehicle - encompasses a stage where AI itself generates and validates the code that fills that architecture. If the way automotive software gets made is changing, Kotei is among the companies trying to get there first. And the first place that will be tested is Europe.

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