🚗 FROM 5 YEARS TO 6 WEEKS: THE SDV REVOLUTION 

When Mercedes-Benz's software team achieved in weeks what traditionally took years, they proved that having an entirely new approach to automotive's software can bring incredible results.

In this new episode of "Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling" brought to you by The Storytelling Tribe, we sit down with Markus Rettstatt, Head of Software Defined Car Unit at Mercedes-Benz Tech Innovation and Eclipse SDV Ambassador, to decode how a 130-year-old automotive giant is becoming a software company.

🎯 KEY INSIGHTS

The Cultural Earthquake: When Software Becomes the Product

Markus reveals the hardest part of Mercedes-Benz's transformation: convincing hardware-minded leaders that software isn't "instructions for hardware" anymore – it's the primary value layer. Discover why this shift demands new mental models about ownership, control, and what actually creates competitive advantage.

The Open Source Paradox: Why Mercedes Shares Code with Competitors

How can sharing diagnostic software with BMW, startups, and Chinese developers strengthen Mercedes' position? Markus explains the counterintuitive strategy behind OpenSOVD – and why reducing development cycles from years to weeks requires collaboration.

The Living Vehicle: Why Your 2025 Car Will Be Better in 2030

Software-defined vehicles don't depreciate like traditional cars – they improve. Learn how continuous updates are transforming the used car market, creating unprecedented value retention, and fundamentally changing what "buying a car" means for the next decade.

💡 PRACTICAL TAKEAWAYS

Lead with Why, Not What: Transformation fails when engineers start with technical details. Start with customer impact, then developer benefits, then business value – in that order. That's how you build momentum.

Prove It with Demos, Not Memos: Markus's team didn't write proposals about vertical integration – they built a working demo covering 80% of test cases in six weeks. Change comes from showing, not telling.

Use Neutral Foundations for Collaboration: Hosting projects through Eclipse Foundation eliminates legal barriers and enables global contribution – even with geopolitically sensitive markets.

Design for Hardware Independence: Build abstraction layers that separate software from chips. This enables market flexibility (different chips for different regions) and future-proofs vehicles for computing evolution.

🌟 MEET YOUR GUIDE

Markus Rettstatt has been writing automotive software since 1998 – back when "software" meant offline routing systems and the rotary knob for destination entry. Over 25+ years, he's co-developed FlexRay bus systems, architected Mercedes-Benz's cloud-native OTA infrastructure (reducing update cycles from one year to under three months), and now leads SDV and ADAS innovation at Mercedes-Benz Tech Innovation, partnering with Chief Software Officer Magnus Östberg to drive transformation at enterprise scale.

His unique perspective? He's lived through the entire evolution from "software as hardware instructions" to "software as primary value layer" – and he's leading one of the industry's most ambitious transformations.

Listen now to discover the stories driving automotive's software revolution.

"Under the Hood: Automotive Storytelling" uncovers the human narratives driving innovation in an industry that impacts lives worldwide. Hosted by Stéphane Lagresle, this podcast explores how the power of storytelling ultimately connects technology to humans.