Siemens has launched a cloud-based digital twin platform for the automotive sector that promises day-one, full-system virtual development for software-defined vehicles.

The new product, PAVE360 Automotive, packages Siemens’ existing digital twin and simulation technologies into a pre-integrated, off-the-shelf environment. The company said the system addresses growing complexity in how vehicle hardware and software interact across advanced driver-assistance systems, autonomous driving functions and in-vehicle infotainment.

Automakers increasingly treat vehicles as software-centric products. This has created pressure on traditional development processes that rely heavily on bespoke test benches and late-stage integration.

Siemens said PAVE360 Automotive gives manufacturers and suppliers a way to carry out early full-system virtual integration that mirrors real vehicle hardware. Development teams can work on both application software and low-level code in a consistent environment that reflects production hardware behaviour.

The company said this approach removes the need for customers to construct their own system-level digital twins before testing software. It also said the environment can cut set-up times for critical applications from several months to a matter of days.

System-level digital twins for software-defined vehicles are possible with existing tools, but often demand significant project-specific integration work and validation cycles. Siemens said PAVE360 Automotive aims to remove that bottleneck by providing a ready-made, system-level twin that organisations can deploy immediately.

Rising complexity

Vehicle electronics now span safety systems, driver-assistance features, powertrain controls and entertainment platforms. Many of these rely on shared compute resources, interconnected networks and centralised software architectures.

Siemens said these interdependencies across ADAS, autonomous driving and infotainment functions exceed the limits of conventional hardware-in-the-loop and domain-specific test setups. Developers often struggle to analyse how changes in one subsystem affect others under realistic conditions.

Tony Hemmelgarn, President and CEO of Siemens Digital Industries Software, said the industry is undergoing a broad shift in how it designs products. "The automotive industry is at the forefront of the software-defined everything revolution and Siemens is delivering the digital twin technologies needed to move beyond incremental innovation and embrace a holistic, software-defined approach to product development," said Hemmelgarn.

"PAVE360 Automotive will empower automotive companies to innovate with confidence, agility and scale, to realize the full potential of the SDVs and set the standard for what’s possible across all industries."

PAVE360 Automotive operates as a cloud-based environment. It uses Siemens’ Innexis software and supporting tools as the underlying platform.

The product delivers a single digital twin that multiple teams can share. This structure is intended to bring ADAS, AD and infotainment engineers into one environment and reduce duplication of modelling work.

Siemens said users can extend the blueprint by adding software components, behavioural models and external hardware as projects evolve. Development teams can also connect the virtual vehicle to physical hardware and test in real vehicles to gain feedback from road conditions.

The environment includes virtual reference designs for ADAS, autonomous driving and infotainment. Customers can adapt these templates for their own architectures rather than starting with a blank model.

Siemens also highlighted simulation performance. It said PAVE360 Automotive can run software on models that behave like production hardware, including the latest automotive compute subsystems.

Arm collaboration

The launch extends Siemens’ collaboration with semiconductor designer Arm. Earlier work between the two companies produced accelerated virtual environments for Arm’s Cortex-A720AE processor and for the newer Arm Zena Compute Subsystem.

Siemens is now integrating Arm Zena CSS more deeply into PAVE360 Automotive. The companies said this creates a route for automakers and chipmakers that rely on Arm architectures to begin development on Arm-based platforms within the digital twin environment.

Access to Arm Zena CSS in the PAVE360 Automotive environment is designed to reduce the time between silicon design and software deployment in vehicles. Siemens said customers can start software design much earlier in the hardware lifecycle.

Arm said growing use of artificial intelligence in vehicles increases design complexity and heightens the need for early validation.

"As vehicles become increasingly AI-defined, automakers and silicon partners need new ways to manage rising complexity without slowing innovation," said Suraj Gajendra, vice president of products and solutions, Physical AI Business Unit, Arm. "With Arm Zena CSS available inside Siemens’ pre-integrated PAVE360 Automotive environment, partners can not only customize their solutions leveraging the unique flexibility of the Arm architecture but also validate and iterate much earlier in the development cycle, helping them get to market sooner."

Siemens said access to Arm Zena CSS within a digital twin can shorten software development timelines by as much as two years. The claim reflects the ability to begin software integration before physical prototypes are available.

Roll-out plans

PAVE360 Automotive is currently available for selected key customers. Siemens plans wider commercial availability in early 2026.

The company will provide a live demonstration of the new environment at CES 2026 in Las Vegas. The system will be showcased in the automotive hall with a focus on software-defined vehicle workflows, virtual validation and integration with real hardware.

Siemens said industry attendees will be able to see PAVE360 Automotive running with Arm-based compute platforms and other partner technologies. The company expects the blueprint to form the basis for future extensions as software-defined architectures spread across vehicle ranges.