Bosch has always been known for its cutting-edge technology, including in the mobility sector. The company completed 100 years in India this year and has also come up with a new smart campus called Spark.NXT, which was launched in July this year in Bengaluru, India. Spark.NXT has several parts to it, along with sustainability and mobility being a prominent focus.

Bosch, a leading supplier of technology and services, has been bringing together comprehensive expertise in vehicle technology with hardware, software and services to offer complete mobility solutions. The Bosch mobility solutions web portal presents highlights from the areas of connected mobility, automated mobility and powertrain systems and electrified mobility. In fact, Bosch is present in all of the mobility segments in India – from passenger vehicles to heavy commercial vehicles and light commercial vehicles to three-wheelers and two-wheelers.

Adding another feather to its cap will be one of the latest steps of the company – expanding its artificial intelligence of things (AIoT) activities in India by transforming its headquarters in Adugodi, Bengaluru, into a new smart campus called Spark.NXT. The inauguration of the same took place in Bengaluru, India, in July this year, also with the company celebrating 100 years of Bosch in India.

Throwing light on Bosch completing 100 years on Indian soil, Soumitra Bhattacharya, Managing Director at Bosch Limited and President of the Bosch Group, India, averred, “In terms of automotives, we have moved from an automotive components manufacturer to a systems manufacturer to a solutions manufacturer.”

Over the last five years, Bosch has invested INR 8 billion in developing the campus, which has the capacity to potentially house 10,000 associates. The 76-acre site is Bosch’s first smart campus in India and features multiple smart solutions based on sustainability, security and user experience for associates, visitors and facility management. It is designed to adapt to the needs of the users, and the smart solutions are innovated on the foundation of Bosch’s technological know-how.

In truth, in the construction phase, a strong emphasis was placed on recyclable materials and the transplanting of trees, ensuring an increase in green cover. 

As an AIoT company, Bosch India leveraged its world-class artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), automation and digitalisation capabilities to develop its smart campus in pursuit of its vision for a sustainable, self-reliant and future-ready India. To further enhance its R&D capabilities for the new way of working, the company has also trained over 10,000 associates through a comprehensive reskilling initiative over the past two years.

Spark.NXT – what is it?
Bhattacharya explained that Spark. NXT is a curiosity to transition and transform, and to meet the business expectations of not only grabbing the opportunities but co-creating the opportunities of the future.

Filiz Albrecht, Member of the Board of Management and Director of Industrial Relations at Robert Bosch GmbH, who officially took responsibility for Bosch India from 1 July 2022, talked about Spark. NXT and asserted, “Spark.NXT demonstrates our commitment to both sustainability and the well-being of our associates. It features a variety of smart IoT and machine learning (ML) solutions, which are expected to cut energy consumption on the campus by nearly 30 percent. The new campus will be an inspiring environment for our associates that will help them unleash their creativity and spark future innovations.”

In his inaugural speech, the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, said that the Bosch Spark.NXT campus will certainly take the lead in developing futuristic products and solutions for India and the world. “I am happy that Bosch India has worked not only on innovation but also in giving it scale,” he said and added, “A key pillar in this will be sustainability. I was told that Bosch has achieved carbon neutrality both in India and outside of the country, which is very inspiring. Bosch came to India 100 years ago as a German company, and now it is as much Indian as German. This is a great example of German engineering and Indian energy.”

Spark.NXT has been broken into six parts – Spark.Mobility, Spark.Living, Spark.Industry, Spark.Software, Spark.Sustainability and Spark. Culture.

Spark.Mobility
“In mobility, we are talking of green mobility under four core factors – personalised, automated, connected and electrified,” Bhattacharya enlightened and continued, “For the last 12 years, we have worked on safety and reducing road accidents very closely with the Government of India.”

Spark.NXT and collaboration
Bhattacharya further put across that they are trying to do obsessive collaboration, not just with their customers or start-ups but for their group companies. “Many of these legal entities are currently, and will be further, housed inside the campus. We work together with software and hardware engineers, look at what the customers need and co-create the solutions,” he elucidated and continued, “Today, it’s all about where people get together and co-create through collaboration and also create opportunities.”

Giving a concrete example, Bhattacharya said, “Let’s take the example of driver drowsiness in some vehicles. So the emergency brakes, the cockpits, the connectivity and the various aspects that we will further announce in the areas of hydrogen electrification are all simple but clear examples of what we are trying to do.”

“So this campus, with this environment, allows us to get not just internal collaboration but external collaboration as well,” he stated.

Bosch’s sustainable practices
Albrecht further stated that the Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. “We have 128 locations across the globe and the company generated a sale of EUR 78.7 billion in 2021,” she shared and went on, “Bosch is a value-driven company and our commitment to sustainability is an integral part of the corporate culture. The key for us is technology, and as an innovation leader, we develop products and solutions of outstanding quality that help conserve natural resources and improve the quality of life.”

Albrecht went on to mention that as a company, Bosch has a long history of sustainable practices. She asserted, “Sustainability is no longer just a ‘nice to have’. Today, sustainability is our core mission, and we are working hard to live up to our responsibility here. By acting in an economically, environmentally and socially responsible manner, we want to improve the quality of life of the present and future generations as well. The Bosch Group has been carbon neutral since 2020.”

Focusing on carbon neutrality
“While making our own operations carbon neutral was in itself a big step, we are now focusing our efforts on reducing emissions outside of our direct sphere of influence,” Albrecht asserted and continued, “We are aiming to reduce our annual upstream and downstream emissions by 15 percent by 2030. To achieve this, we are, firstly, pursuing a circular economy strategy that involves keeping materials and products into usability for as long as possible. Secondly, we are striving to optimise energy efficiency in our existing products. And thirdly, we are shifting our product portfolio towards carbon neutrality.”

Coming to Bosch India, Albrecht cited that it is playing a key role in carbon neutrality, water management and energy efficiency, and that the people at Bosch India are doing some inspiring work in sustainability. While sustainability is central to a company’s corporate strategy, its success depends on the people. Bosch India wants to create an environment that enables its associates to develop their full potential and contribute to the company’s long-term success. It is preparing its associates for the transformation and helping them to develop personally and acquire new skills.

Investment in electromobility, digitalisation and more
“One more area of focus is reskilling associates and preparing them for the technologies of the future,” Albrecht informed and continued, “Over the past five years, Bosch has invested EUR one billion in this and plans to invest another billion in artificial intelligence, electromobility, software, digitalisation and Industry 4.0, to name just a few, over the next five years. Here as well, India is playing a key role for both our company and the global arena. The country has an advantage of demography and the availability of talent that can power global solutions.”

The importance of diversity
She went on to aver that when it comes to their workforce, they are convinced that their tremendous diversity is one of their most important factors of success. As a global player, Bosch has associates from some 150 different countries, and diversity is one of the core values of the company. The company is working hard at all levels of the Bosch Group to increase its diversity further by also bringing in women in leadership roles.

Coming to India, Albrecht said, “India is a highly diverse country, with a variety of cultures and languages. We believe that India’s diversity is key to its engine of innovation, and we’ll continue to invest in our local workforce in the years to come."

Bosch’s presence in Karnataka
Bhattacharya spoke of the company’s presence in Karnataka and mentioned that Bosch has the largest R&D centre in the world (outside of Germany) in Karnataka and that Bosch Global Software Solutions is headquartered in Koramangala. “Our collaboration with the Government of Karnataka has been there for a very long period,” he mentioned.

He further highlighted, “We transitioned the country from BSIV to BSVI in a record time of three years, where Europe and other countries took eight years. We have also worked very closely with the Government of India for Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat.”

The Chief Minister of Karnataka, Basavaraj Bommai, who was the Chief Guest at the ceremony, applauded the work done by Bosch India, especially in Karnataka. He asserted, “It is a pleasure to be part of the inauguration of the Spark. NXT Campus of Bosch India. The company has had its presence in the state for several decades now, and it is heartening to host India’s largest smart campus here. Karnataka, primarily Bengaluru, has been a technology hub and houses the largest number of R&D centres across the globe. This campus is another feather to its cap.”

The chief minister further added, “This campus showcases R&D capabilities for both automotive and non-automotive products and services, and I hope that this will elevate the city’s leadership in the field of technology to a greater level.”

Campus walkthrough
The media was even given a walkthrough of the new smart campus, taking them through three of the solutions – Bosch Air Quality Management, Smart Working Solution and Visitor Management System.

Bosch Air Quality Management – Bosch India has already taken a lot of measures inside the new campus to reduce the impact of air pollution. Some of the measures include increased green cover (by 30 percent) and increased green energy – the company has made its entire campus a non-motorised zone. Plus, it has some new initiatives, like paperless work culture, planned.

However, in order to understand the effect of the emissions surrounding the campus (traffic, construction etc.) on the campus, the company has deployed its air quality monitors inside the campus and regularly monitors the data. This data is provided to the associates and is available as real-time information. The data is also made available to visitors on a big screen in the lobby etc.

Smart Working Solution – With the hybrid working model becoming the new norm, this opens up opportunities to reduce some real estate costs by decreasing the number of desks available. Naturally, it becomes important for the associates to know if there are desks available before they go to the office. Therefore, in order to facilitate this kind of flexible working model, Bosch India has come up with a smart solution, ‘Flexi Booking App’. Through this application, associates can check the availability of the desks and book the same from the comfort of their homes.

Another smart solution that Bosch India has come up with is ‘Automated Comfort Assistant’ application. Through this application, associates can provide feedback on how they feel about the office temperature (too hot, too cold etc.), and the system automatically adjusts the temperature based on this feedback so that everyone feels comfortable.

The combination of these two solutions gives real-time usage for facility management to optimise the workplace. This eventually helps in a considerable reduction in the cost of the real estate.

Visitor Management System – The Smart Visitor Management Solution scans a visitor’s face and gives automatic access. Plus, this solution also has a smart locker that works on a QR-based system – when an employee sends an invite to a visitor, the visitor gets a QR code on their mobile. The visitor just has to show the QR code as smart locker and a locker is assigned to them. There is no manual intervention involved; it's all automated.

The benefit of this solution is that it gives the visitor a seamless experience – there is zero dependency and enhanced security.

In order to make the solution much smarter, the company also wants to implement geo fencing (so that visitors do not go into any areas of the campus where they are not supposed to go), go cardless and include a robot to assist visitors around the campus.

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Wayve, NVIDIA and Stellantis have announced a joint collaboration alongside the French government at the Assises du Véhicule Autonome to support the deployment of autonomous vehicles in France and across the European Union.

The initiative combines Stellantis’ L4-Ready Platforms with the Wayve AI Driver system, integrating NVIDIA Halos OS on the NVIDIA Hyperion compute and sensor architecture. The collaboration aims to establish an autonomous vehicle value chain in France, spanning silicon development, software integration and vehicle manufacturing.

Local transport partners will engage with trade unions, municipal authorities, and mobility stakeholders to address regulatory alignment, safety requirements, and operational deployment.

Philippe Tabarot, French Minister of Transports, said, "I am pleased to see this collaboration between Wayve, NVIDIA and Stellantis launched at the Autonomous Vehicle Forum in France. France is committed to adapting its regulatory framework to accelerate the development of autonomous vehicles while maintaining strict safety and data sovereignty requirements. By bringing together trade unions, city authorities, and mobility stakeholders, this collaboration embodies the collaborative spirit of the Assises du Véhicule Autonome, as well as the approach required to transition from trials to real-world deployment."

Kaity Fischer, VP Autonomous Mobility & Operations, Wayve, said, "France is leading the way in preparing for autonomous vehicles, and we’re proud to enter this collaboration at such an important moment. By working directly with the French Government and our partners, we can help shape how this technology is deployed safely and responsibly and accelerate its development across the country and entire EU."

Anne Laliron, SVP of Technology Research, Stellantis, said, "This collaboration will help accelerate the delivery of autonomous driving technologies that make mobility safer and more convenient for customers. While its impact is global, France is one of Stellantis’ key centres for engineering and technology development, making it a natural home for advancing the future of AI-powered mobility."

Ali Kani, VP of Automotive, NVIDIA, said, "Bringing safe autonomous mobility to Europe requires deep collaboration across AI, computing and vehicle engineering. NVIDIA Hyperion platform, combined with Wayve’s embodied AI and Stellantis’ automotive expertise, provides a foundation for that ambition. Together with the French Government and local partners, we can help build an ecosystem that brings the benefits of autonomous driving to communities across France and Europe."

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German luxury carmaker Audi has introduced third-generation digital OLED rear lighting technology on the Q91, marking the production debut of three-dimensionally curved digital OLED panels in the automotive industry.

The lighting system incorporates carrier glass measuring 0.1 millimetres in thickness, allowing a bend radius of up to 200 millimetres to match the vehicle's body contours. The Q91 uses six digital OLED panels housing 512 individual segments, including an outer curved panel with 99 segments.

The curved positioning extends light visibility to wider lateral angles and incorporates warning symbols within the communication light system to alert surrounding traffic to breakdowns, emergency braking or accidents. Up to eight digital light signatures are available across static, active and semi-active display settings.

The vehicle also features digital Matrix LED headlights utilising a 13-millimetre micro-LED module containing 25,600 individual micro-LEDs. The headlight system projects high-resolution lane lighting, orientation paths and dynamic turn signal graphics directly onto the road surface to assist lane centring and indicate directional changes to pedestrians and other vehicles.

Audi first introduced OLED technology on the TT RS in 2016, followed by segmented digital OLEDs on the Q5 in 2020 and second-generation panels on the Q6 e-tron in 2024.

Stefan Berlitz, Head of Lighting Development at AUDI AG, said, "At Audi, light means safety first and foremost – seeing and being seen. Digitalisation opens up entirely new possibilities for further enhancing road safety. The curved digital OLED technology in the Audi Q91 impressively demonstrates this technology’s potential. It combines design freedom, personalization, and communication with the vehicle’s surroundings at a new level. Our vision is to gradually transform light into an intelligent means of communication that makes interaction between the vehicle and its surroundings even safer and more intuitive."

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European ride-hailing platform Bolt has selected the NVIDIA Alpamayo Stack autonomous driving software to operate its vehicle fleet in Europe, starting with Lucid automobiles.

The deployment commences in Madrid in 2027, with subsequent deployment planned in Germany and France. The initiative supports the integration of at least 25,000 Level 4-ready Lucid vehicles equipped with NVIDIA Hyperion compute and sensor architecture. The program contributes to Bolt's objective of deploying 100,000 autonomous vehicles across Europe and the UNECE region by 2035. The system integrates reasoning artificial intelligence with perception and planning modules alongside NVIDIA Halos safety controls.

Jevgeni Kabanov, President and Head of Autonomous Driving, Bolt, said, “Autonomous driving will change how people move around cities, and Europe should play a major role in how that future is built. Our ambition isn't to bring autonomous driving to just a handful of cities. We want to make autonomous ride-hailing available at scale across Europe, with 100,000 vehicles on our platform by 2035. We're bringing together some of the best technologies in the world to make that possible. Following our first autonomous mobility launch in Luxembourg, our next step with NVIDIA and Lucid is to begin a programme in Madrid in 2027. The Region of Madrid is pioneering a structured framework for commercial autonomous mobility in coordination with national authorities. Germany will also be a priority for what comes next, with cities already setting out clear ambitions for autonomous mobility.”

Rishi Dhall, Vice-President of Automotive, NVIDIA, said, “Robotaxis will scale when every vehicle is built on a common, safety-engineered foundation. NVIDIA Hyperion standardises the compute and sensor architecture across vehicle platforms, while NVIDIA Alpamayo Stack and Halos provide the driving intelligence and safety foundation. Bolt’s European platform, operational experience and work with cities and regulators make it a strong partner to bring autonomous ride-hailing to market at scale in Europe.”

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French tier 1 supplier Valeo has announced plans to develop and industrialise high-performance compute platforms utilising the NVIDIA Hyperion reference architecture and NVIDIA Halos safety system.

The initiative combines Valeo's vehicle integration capabilities with centralised computing architectures to support software-defined mobility systems. The platform utilises the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor architecture to deliver processing performance and redundancy for Level 4 autonomous driving, commercial trucking and robotaxi applications. The development framework enables automakers to integrate features and deploy autonomous technologies across vehicle models.

Marc Vrecko, Chief Executive Officer, Valeo Brain Division, said, "Our work with NVIDIA marks a significant milestone in our mission to make autonomous driving a safe, scalable reality. By seamlessly integrating NVIDIA’s advanced compute power into our next-generation platforms, we are delivering the flexible, centralised intelligence vehicle manufacturers require to redefine the driving experience and meet the evolving demands of tomorrow’s intelligent vehicles."

Rishi Dhall, Vice-President of Automotive, NVIDIA, said, "Valeo’s expertise in high-performance computing, vehicle integration and automotive-scale industrialisation will help automakers adopt NVIDIA Hyperion and NVIDIA Halos at production scale. Together, NVIDIA and Valeo are providing the AI performance, functional safety and scalability needed to accelerate the development of Level 4 autonomous vehicles and robotaxis."

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