Renesas’ strategy on processor roadmap for next-generation automotive systems on chip and microcontroller units

Renesas faces challenges in catching up to competitors including Horizon Robotics, Qualcomm, and NVIDIA, which have been at the forefront of mid-to-high-performing SoCs for several years. However, Renesas' chiplet strategy presents an opportunity to bridge this gap and solidify its position in the market.

In November, Renesas Electronics Corporation unveiled its latest automotive semiconductor strategy targeting all major applications across the automotive digital domain. While industry giants like NVIDIA, Qualcomm and Mobileye dominate discussions on next-generation automotive electrical/electronic (E/E) platforms, Renesas has carved out a unique position by announcing its new addition to the R-Car platform, R-Car Gen 5 systems on chip (SoCs) and chiplet options. This comprehensive semiconductor strategy aims to cover a broad range of automotive architectures, Arm-based SoCs and microcontroller units (MCUs). Renesas plans to commence sampling of new SoCs and MCUs by the end of 2024.