ZF Group is rolling out its first pure software program product, because the world’s third-largest components provider appears to determine itself as a significant participant within the fast-growing marketplace for automotive software program.

The product, referred to as CubiX, controls all of a car’s chassis features, together with braking, front- and rear-axle steering, energetic roll stabilization and electrical drive. By doing so, the software program can guarantee smoother acceleration and extra exact steering, the provider stated in a information launch.

CubiX makes its debut within the Lotus Eletre, the full-electric crossover developed by the U.Okay. sports activities automotive model. ZF expects to put CubiX in different automobiles this 12 months, the corporate stated.

The debut of the software program is a crucial one for ZF. The German provider of transmissions, chassis merchandise and different conventional auto components is trying to acquire a big share of the rising market. The significance of auto software program is accelerating as automakers debut dozens of electrical fashions and introduce automobiles with more and more superior driver-assistance methods, and as connected-vehicle know-how develops.

The launch is a “important proof level” for ZF because it appears to rework itself and change into a significant provider within the electrical vehicle- and software-dominated auto business of the long run, stated ZF spokeswoman Ann Miller.

“We predict software program to be a considerable a part of our enterprise going ahead,” she stated in an e-mail to Automotive Information. “We’re taking our deep experience in {hardware} and mixing it with software program to supply new functionalities that enhance security, effectivity and luxury throughout [the] spectrum of mobility, passenger automotive, business car, marine and industrial, and different purposes.”

The provider has stopped creating purposes which are instantly linked to inner combustion engines and is as a substitute investing closely into its EV, driver-assist and software program pipeline. It signed an settlement final 12 months with Vietnamese EV maker VinFast to supply it with a complicated driver-assist system. On the finish of 2022, ZF had an order pipeline of about $26 billion in enterprise associated to plug-in hybrids and full-electric automobiles.

ZF stated its CubiX software program is appropriate with dampers, brakes and rear-axle steering no matter producer or design, giving automakers flexibility. The software program will also be upgraded through over-the-air updates.

The provider developed the software program at services in Germany, the Czech Republic, Romania, the U.Okay., India and China.

The corporate ranks No. 3 on the Automotive Information record of the highest 100 international suppliers, with worldwide components gross sales to automakers of $39.3 billion in 2021.