Qualcomm leverages India's engineering talent to mold its worldwide automotive strategy
In the heart of India, Qualcomm's Snapdragon Digital Chassis is making waves in the country's rapidly evolving automotive landscape. This modular, scalable platform is not just a game-changer for India, but a core component of Qualcomm's global automotive strategy.
India's engineering prowess is evident in Qualcomm's Snapdragon Ride development. India-based engineers have tuned safety stacks for L2+/L3 autonomy and designed new modular platforms that are now being scaled in Europe and North America. Qualcomm's focus on V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) infrastructure is also significant, with the company engaging with regulatory agencies and pilot projects to introduce non-line-of-sight communication for alerts and safety protocols in dense traffic or low-visibility scenarios.
The Snapdragon Digital Chassis is a compelling fit for India's high-volume, high-variance market. Its flexible silicon, open software stack, and local co-development model make it an ideal solution for the diverse and challenging Indian roads and driving environment. Qualcomm is committed to customising its solutions for Indian applications, as seen in its interactions with domestic players like Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Royal Enfield, and Uno Minda.
At the Snapdragon Auto Day 2025 held in India, Qualcomm unveiled its Snapdragon Digital Chassis suite, emphasising four key components: Snapdragon Cockpit (AI-driven in-cabin infotainment and virtual assistants), Snapdragon Car-to-Cloud (OTA updates and cloud services), Snapdragon Ride and Ride Flex (scalable ADAS platform, supporting Level 2+ assisted driving), and Snapdragon Auto Connectivity (secure 4G/5G, GPS, and V2X communication).
Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Royal Enfield, and other Indian automakers are actively deploying and co-developing Qualcomm's Snapdragon Digital Chassis. Mahindra, for instance, is deploying Snapdragon Cockpit and Connectivity for immersive in-cabin experiences, while Royal Enfield and Hero MotoCorp are integrating connected cluster systems. Pricol and Spark Minda have adopted Snapdragon-powered telematics and smart dashboards, and the first demonstration of Snapdragon Ride ADAS platform in India was a significant milestone.
Qualcomm's strategy is to solve problems for India first and scale globally, with the reverse flow of innovation now central to its mobility strategy. Mahindra is shifting from vehicle-first design to chip-first architecture, enabling scalable feature sets and integrating intelligence through Qualcomm's compute platforms, such as the Snapdragon 8295. Indian OEMs, Tier-1 suppliers, and startups are increasingly embracing central compute architectures that allow for flexible hardware integration, OTA updates, and lifecycle-based feature deployment.
The Indian auto industry is embracing software-defined vehicles (SDVs) not as an aspirational shift, but as a foundational necessity - driven by EV architectures, cost pressures, and consumer demand for digital-first experiences. Maruti Suzuki is transitioning towards digitalised platforms and offering digital cockpit and connected solutions even in high-volume segments. Qualcomm's technology is being used in two-wheeler applications, expanding its role beyond four-wheeled vehicles.
In summary, Qualcomm's Snapdragon Digital Chassis is actively deployed and co-developed with Indian OEMs, with ambitious future plans to deepen software-defined vehicle capabilities in India's fast-evolving automotive industry. The country is poised to become a global hub for innovation in smart mobility solutions.
- Qualcomm's collaboration with Indian automakers like Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Royal Enfield, and Uno Minda extends beyond the automotive industry, as their engineers work together to establish V2X infrastructure, blending technology and finance for the development of transportation solutions.
- In the near future, India's fast-evolving automotive landscape may see a significant shift towards software-defined vehicles (SDVs), as Indian OEMs like Maruti Suzuki embrace digital-first experiences, enabled by Qualcomm technology in both four-wheeled and two-wheeled applications, bridging the gap between the transportation and technology sectors.
