Architecting Automotive Product Lines: Industrial Practice

This paper presents an in-depth view of how architects work with maintaining product line architectures in the automotive industry. The study has been performed at two internationally well-known companies, one car manufacture and one commercial vehicle manufacture. The results are based on 12 interviews with architects performed at the two companies. The study shows what effect differences such as a strong line organization or a strong project organization has on the architecting process. It also shows what consequence technical choices and business strategy have on the architecting process. Despite the differences the results are surprisingly similar with respect to the process of managing architectural changes as well as the information the architects maintain and update, especially in the light that the companies have had no direct cooperation.