Clarion and Kotei Tie Up to Create Custom Software for Automotive Applications

Clarion Co., Ltd has recently entered a joint venture with Wuhan KOTEI Informatics Co. Ltd. (KOTEI), a premier Chinese software development company.

This new venture allows Clarion to respond with greater agility to shifting market trends of in-vehicle infotainment systems in the Chinese market as well as the wider global market. Founded in May this year, Kotei started operation just this month and is anticipated to assume an increasingly huge role in the research and development of state-of-the-art software solutions particularly designed for the automotive market.

The two companies have been working together in the design and development of software for in-vehicle devices for several years. The new joint venture underpins Clarion’s software development activities in China, boosts the product competitiveness for leading markets, and is anticipated to create new opportunities for Clarion to expand its customer base.

According to Paul S. Lachner, President of Clarion Corporation of America, for the past decade, the key to the development of high performance in-vehicle navigation, infotainment and connected systems has been dependent on the sophistication and flexibility of the software architecture, and capabilities of the development team involved. He said that establishing this joint venture is a great step forward in their commitment to offering their customers with the best in-vehicle infotainment and navigation solutions. Lachner added that the new company’s software engineering and application development resources would make a positive impact on their ability to innovate quickly. “They enhance Clarion’s capabilities in developing custom software solutions for our customers, reducing the overall time it takes to bring new solutions to market and positioning Clarion as a dominant force in today’s rapidly changing global market.”

The key business focus of Kotei is to develop and bring to market innovative software for smart in-vehicle infotainment solutions. In order to do so, the new company is tasked with doing R&D in in-vehicle software/solutions, automotive systems, mobile device internet communication technologies, as well as application development for satellite navigation positioning.

Clarion and Kotei anticipate the operation to systematically expand based on the company’s success in providing current and new customers a bigger and more innovative portfolio of software solutions and custom applications.