There are increasing software components to vehicles, with new intelligence being added and them getting more sophisticated. SaaS is a way to deliver the software, and we are seeing more software in the automotive industry. Venkat Nathan, Founder and CEO, Nesh LIVE, talks to us about the start-up’s transition to a vehicle connectivity solutions company, their USP and more.

While we see large players like Tesla choosing to build their vehicle connectivity solutions inhouse, SaaS could be the way to go for medium to small players in the automotive OEM space to enable these solutions. However, they may need to approach companies that offer full-stack SaaS solutions for vehicle connectivity to compete with the large players.

One such company is Nesh LIVE, which provides SaaS solutions for vehicle connectivity and was selected by Stanford University as one of the promising start-ups in India under the Seed Transformation Programme in 2017, and has close to about 100,000 vehicles in its system. Moreover, the start-up has been working with vehicle manufacturers for close to five years now.

“Our solutions are deployed at leading truck, bus and off-road vehicle manufacturers. Besides this, we are also working with electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers right now,” says Venkat Nathan, Founder and CEO, Nesh LIVE. “We are working towards helping these manufacturers extract, transfer and analyse battery and vehicle data in the cloud. This in turn is the bedrock for any mobility – that bedrock is quality data, and quality data comes with connectivity right at the production line and the latest sensors supporting the extractions. So when a vehicle is born, the sensors are put in right at the time of its birth as an OEM fitment rather than leaving it to the customer to buy it as an aftermarket fitment.”

The three-dimensional way
Nesh LIVE’s specialisation is that it works with manufacturers early on and tries to integrate its products into the manufacturing line. That way, the whole ecosystem benefits from quality data. In order to build intelligent insights on data, connectivity has to have all the dimensions, from vehicle data to user-behaviour to the environment. The start-up attacks the automotive OEMs’ problems in this three-dimensional way. Doing this provides insights not just for the manufacturers but for the entire network – everyone in the chain is allowed to see and access information that they are allowed to see and access.

The rating system
“Today, we collect close to 100 million data points a day. Nesh LIVE also provides rating systems for the vehicle as a feature, based on the data they get,” says Nathan and goes on, “This rating is useful for the fleet owner.”

The rating system is provided for the vehicle and drivers, and now Nesh LIVE will be extending very similar algorithms for battery rating of electric vehicles. There are a number of applications for battery rating; for one, it helps the user understand the health of the battery. And secondly, as these batteries come up for reuse in other sectors, the grading system will help decide their afterlife in the long run. In fact, the vehicle rating system helps people anonymously compare their own vehicles within their own fleet and other fleets as well.

“In summary, we identify what data is needed and work with the automotive manufacturers. We then extract that data and send it to the cloud. Once that data is sent to the cloud, we run a lot of analytics in the cloud and then provide insights to different stakeholders,” Nathan makes clear.

Nesh LIVE’s SaaS solution – from ICEs to EVs
Some aspects of the SaaS feature are common, while some are industry-specific. “For instance, bus manufacturers want to know when the bus shows the pick-up location in advance. While all applications need to be highly accurate, the accuracy requirements in the bus segment are much higher within SaaS,” Nathan tells us and goes on, “However, in case of construction equipment like earth movers, for instance, there is greater importance to monitoring its working hours rather than accuracy of its location since it is mostly restricted to select zones. Hence, there are small variations from segment to segment. Even EVs have some variations that we are addressing right now.”

Elaborating further on this, Nathan says, “The EV industry is very interested in having a lot of analytics on battery, especially the charging and discharging cycles and health of the battery. This in turn impacts the range of the vehicle, and the range of a vehicle is dynamic. The dynamic range prediction needs to take into account, along with the driver behaviour, such as braking and speed, the usage of the vehicle, the environment, the road surface etc.”

“The SaaS offerings include the mobile app for the driver. For example, the driver gets push notifications based on what we see in terms of his/her handling the vehicle, the way he/she drives, the battery being due for service etc. Besides, we also educate and engage the user for best practices of the EV vehicle,” he adds.

From mobile applications to vehicle connectivity solutions
In fact, Nesh LIVE was initially into building mobile applications for the fleet industry when the product was launched in 2015, before venturing into vehicle connectivity solutions. However, the transition wasn’t too difficult as the two fields are very related, Nathan claims. He asserts, “When we started back in 2015, we started with applications on the phone, predominantly focused on the driver dimension. We provided the driver with an app, like Ola or Uber do today, and basically tracked the phone. The industry had just begun to explore other forms of connectivity of tracking a vehicle back then. So what started in 2015 as GPS tracking and reporting has slowly morphed into a huge vehicle intelligence and analytics platform.”

GPS tracking was, in truth, seen as a low-end commodity product back in 2015. “So when we approached large automotive suppliers with our solution, they approached it cautiously,” Nathan tells us and continues, “However, we had to really convince them that while today it is only GPS, tomorrow it will be the black box of the vehicle – like the Wi-Fi of a house – enabling connectivity and becoming the point of access to the internet.”

Therefore, while the transition for the company from a technical perspective wasn’t much, convincing customers to adopt the technology and telling them that it would morph into providing intelligence for the vehicle and improving its efficiency and safety was difficult back then. “However, we saw the perspective change after 2019. Today, the end-user wants intelligent insights,” Nathan explains.

He further adds that Nesh LIVE has also created virtual sensors that direct the load of the vehicle. “We can tell if a vehicle is travelling with or without load by algorithms. This has further increased the utilisation of the vehicle,” he informs.

Reinventing and staying ahead
While the start-up has come a long way since its inception, it has to face competition like any other organisation and industry. Nathan cites that Nesh LIVE has competition at two levels – the IoT level and the transporter level.

“The IoT-level competition is quite generic and not focused on automotive; data is collected from any industrial equipment, is processed and analytics on it is provided. It is very broad-based,” he explains and goes on, “On the other hand, Nesh LIVE is very automotive-niche; we have people with experience in automotives and we have worked with automotive companies for nearly seven years. Therefore, we have built up a lot of domain knowledge that comes in handy to provide advanced analytics.”

“At the transporter level, one will find companies providing good GPS tracking solutions to transporters. These competitors are at the transporter level, meeting their respective needs,” Nathan further explains.

Coming to where Nesh LIVE stands out, Nathan highlights, “Our start-up does not provide just for the transporters. Our USP is that we provide a lot of features for the auto manufacturer, including the dealers and service network of the manufacturer. And all of this is automated as a production line fitment at the manufacturing line. So we try to stay ahead by being domain-focused and being a very holistic end-to-end player for the ecosystem – not just for the transporter.”

But staying ahead of the competition is not enough. Nesh LIVE has also been constantly working on enhancing its SaaS platform. The start-up invests 20-30 percent into new R&D initiatives of SaaS and is continuously improving. In fact, it has customers in Canada and has ongoing trials in Dubai and the US. Moreover, it has already run some trials in Nigeria.

Cater to the automotive ecosystem
Today, it’s all about providing intelligent insights, which has been a pull from the end-users themselves. The end-users want to increase their vehicle utilisation and get more revenue out of it. What’s more important is that the software architecture has to show agility for the vehicle from the very first day. Therefore, SaaS technology will not only improve the safety but also the efficiency and operation of every vehicle, and last but not least, help cater to the automotive ecosystem.

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Toyota Kirloskar Motor, one of the leading passenger vehicle manufacturers, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Karnataka to establish its global ‘TKM Bizintel Hub’ in KWIN City, Bengaluru.

The automaker will infuse INR 12 billion as initial capital over the next five years, marking the first anchor investment for the smart city development project.

The facility will be spread across 300 acres along the Doddaballapur–Dabaspet Highway. The hub will serve multiple corporate objectives, including the testing and evaluation of new mobility solutions, digital transformation across supply chain operations and the implementation of intelligent vehicle manufacturing systems. The initial phase of the project is expected to generate approximately 200 jobs.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Large and Medium Industries Minister Dr M.B. Patil. KWIN (Knowledge, Wellbeing, and Innovation) City and is being developed in phases across a total area of 5,800 acres, with a focus on integrating technology, healthcare and educational sectors.

Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister, Government of Karnataka, said, “Toyota Kirloskar Motor has been a trusted long-term partner in Karnataka’s growth journey. The MoU marks another important milestone as we work together to deepen technology-led investments, create quality employment and promote sustainable industrial development. This partnership further strengthens Karnataka’s leadership as a global investment destination and reinforces our commitment to innovation‑ driven growth.”

Masakazu Yoshimura, Chairman, MD & CEO, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, stated, “We are grateful to the Government of Karnataka for its continued support and collaboration over the years which has played a key role in our journey. India has always been a strategically important market for Toyota to drive innovation and sustainable mobility initiatives. The TKM Bizintel Hub will support testing and evaluation activities, advancements in digital transformation and intelligent manufacturing across the entire supply chain business, leveraging on India’s robust information technology ecosystem with skilled talent. Anchored in TKM’s focus on localization and responsible growth, this initiative aligns with the company’s multi pathway approach towards achieving carbon neutrality goals and meeting the national priorities such as Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat.”

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The UK government has opened applications for operators to run self-driving cars, allowing citizens to book autonomous taxi and bus-style services across Great Britain later this year.

The pilot scheme will allow technology firms to deploy autonomous vehicles on public roads to gather real-world performance evidence. These services will be subject to safety assessments and rigorous regulatory approval checks by the government, including verification of protections against cyber and security threats. Local transport authorities, such as Transport for London, must also provide local consent to ensure operations align with regional infrastructure priorities.

Learnings collected from these commercial pilots will guide the development of permanent self-driving vehicle regulations. This regulatory framework follows a formal government call for evidence that concluded in March. Data shows that human error currently contributes to 88 percent of collisions on UK roads, and the implementation of automated systems aims to improve overall road safety. Industry projections estimate that the British automated passenger services market could be worth up to GBP 3.7 billion annually by 2040.

Simon Lightwood, Roads and Buses Minister, said, “Self-driving vehicles represent a transformative opportunity for Britain, opening up independent travel for disabled people and older adults, while driving growth and creating high-skilled jobs across the UK. This pilot scheme brings that future closer, giving passengers the opportunity to experience self-driving travel first-hand while ensuring safety always comes first.”

Sarfraz Maredia, Global Head of Autonomous Mobility and Delivery, Uber, stated, “This is an exciting and important step toward launching autonomous vehicles in the UK. London has long been a pioneering city for Uber, where we’ve launched some of our biggest innovations and we can’t wait to give people in the capital the chance to experience autonomous rides this year.”

Ben Loewenstein, Head of Policy and Government Affairs for the UK and Europe, Waymo, added, “The UK is leading the way in enabling the safe deployment of pilot autonomous vehicle services. We hope to soon become part of London’s transport network and demonstrate the safety, accessibility and sustainability benefits of battery-electric autonomous vehicles through the government’s pilot scheme. We are working closely with the Department for Transport and Transport for London to ensure our operations align with their goals.”

Sarah Gates, VP of Global Affairs and Assurance, Wayve, noted, “The UK has all the ingredients to become a global leader in the deployment of self-driving vehicles and today’s launch of the automated passenger services scheme marks an important milestone. Wayve has been developing its technology in the UK for nearly a decade and we’re excited to bring our supervised passenger service to market here this year.”

Mike Hawes, Chief Executive, SMMT, commented, “Today is a significant milestone in the safe and responsible rollout of automated vehicles on British roads. For the first time, legislation will allow operators to offer passenger-carrying commercial services – such as robotaxis – to the general public. Government’s decision to bring forward this legislation has positioned Britain as a leading European market for automated vehicles and a frontrunner in physical AI investment, development and deployment.”

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Chinese technology company Hesai Group has secured a new design win from a top-tier European automotive manufacturer for its advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) solution.

The multi-year contract exceeds one million units and will cover more than 10 vehicle models across the manufacturer's joint venture brands in China.

The agreement follows Hesai's recently announced Level 3 autonomous driving program partnership with Mercedes-Benz, highlighting the company's full-stack in-house application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) development and volume manufacturing capabilities.

The contract will be fulfilled using the Hesai ATX, a compact, long-range LiDAR sensor configured specifically for L2 ADAS architectures.

Since entering mass production in 2025, the ATX platform has logged over one million deliveries. The company reports a current order backlog exceeding six million units for the ATX platform. The sensor utilises proprietary addressable photon isolation technology to improve hazard detection timelines and vehicle active safety functions.

Hesai said it continues to expand its market share within the automotive sensor supply chain with secured design wins from around 40 automakers, spread over more than 160 vehicle models, to date.

The company said, according to data from the Yole Group, Hesai ranked first globally in long-range ADAS LiDAR shipments for the 2025 period, commanding a 43 percent share of the global market.

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Horse Powertrain, a leading supplier of powertrain solutions, has launched the V20 engine through its Aurobay Technologies division with production already underway at its Skovde, Sweden, manufacturing facility.

The V20 engine aims to assist automakers in meeting emission regulations for 2026 and 2027 with units destined for customers in Europe, the US and Asia. The 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder engine features a single architecture offered in two variants: a 400-volt plug-in hybrid and a 48-volt mild hybrid. The plug-in version provides a reduction in fuel consumption of seven per cent compared to the predecessor.

The platform design intends to reduce material costs. Hardware for the plug-in variant includes a crankshaft-mounted starter-generator, a mechanical water pump, and a re-routed cooling system. Additional updates include a multi-injection fuel system, an engine management system, and an air induction system.

Ingo Scholten, Managing Director, Aurobay Technologies Sweden and Deputy CTO of Horse Powertrain, said, “Designing one engine to meet three different regulatory regimes is harder than designing three separate engines. As the regulatory map is fragmenting, one engine that meets all three sets of rules delivers greater value to our customers, ensuring we can offer greater economies of scale. Pulling that off requires serious engineering. Further, the Skovde team also successfully changed production lines while keeping current production running.”

The Skovde plant integrated a final assembly line with the base assembly line to improve material flow. This transition occurred during ongoing operations. Output is scheduled to increase through 2026 and 2027 to meet demand.

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