Automotive IC supplier NXP Semiconductors and ODM Inventec have announced that they are teaming up to create an industrial ecosystem locally in Taiwan for automotive electronics products.

The ecosystem will focus on five modules: ultra-broadband smart car access systems, central gateways, in-vehicle servers, e-cabs and wireless in-vehicle chargers.

Inventec president Tom Cho said Inventec will focus on electric controllers to create “Server in Car,” turning cars into mobile offices.

Elton Tsang, director of sales for Greater China at NXP, noted that cooperation between the two companies has been smooth.

Despite being the world’s largest server motherboard maker and fourth-largest notebook ODM, Inventec has struggled to attract automotive customers.

Inventec Vice President of Automotive Electronics R&D Center Rai-Jin Li said that Taiwan’s electronics industry is really well positioned in the automotive electronics sector; however, Taiwanese manufacturers are not known in this field. Cooperation with NXP will help Inventec and other Taiwanese manufacturers gain recognition.

NXP brings to the partnership its extensive experience and knowledge in the automotive market, which will be very beneficial due to the complexity of automotive grade specifications and certifications.

After the announcement of its cooperation with Hon Hai Precision Industry (Foxconn) and now Inventec, the industry is interested to see who NXP will work with.

Tsang said that NXP is discussing many different plans and will definitely continue to expand cooperation and investments in Taiwan. NXP will not only continue to increase upstream and downstream partnerships, but will also invest more resources in manufacturing and design, while expanding capacity and its workforce.

NXP’s ultimate goal is to help Taiwan build a competitive automotive ecosystem, Tsang said. With Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and the IT industry, Tsang said Taiwan has great advantages in becoming a major promoter of future automotive electronic technologies.

However, Taiwan needs help with automotive electronics security, an area where NXP can help.

Tsang explained that most Taiwanese manufacturers looking to enter the auto market are new entrants with limited resources. In order to enter the market quickly, companies may sacrifice security a little, which is likely to affect long-term cooperation and the company’s reputation.

Inventec has also invested in vehicle security and information security. Inventec showed off a concept car at its factory in Taiwan Taoyuan Industrial Park, which focused on safety and information security. The car featured ISO 26262 for functional security at component level, ISO/SAE 21434 for information security at vehicle module level, and ISO 21448 for security of intended functionality.

Li noted that Inventec’s production bases in Taiwan, Shanghai, Chongqing, Mexico and the Czech Republic have made considerable progress in applying for automotive-related certifications such as ISO 26262, ISO 21434, ISO 21448, VDA 6.3 and Automotive SPICE.

Inventec’s factories in China in Shanghai and Chongqing will focus on local customers, while the factory in Mexico will serve US automakers and the Czech factory will serve European automakers. The Taiwan factory will focus on new product introduction (NPI) and two-wheelers.

The company is also setting up production lines and is expected to start producing automotive electronics in 2022. Inventec already has 400 automotive-related R&D engineers, with plans to expand to to 600.