CYBER THREATS AND MARKET VOLATILITY SIGNAL NEW REALITY FOR GLOBAL AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
SECURE, TRUSTED DATA COLLABORATION IS BECOMING A PREREQUISITE CONDITION OF TRADE SAYS CATENA-X.
• Eight of the world’ s top ten automotive suppliers are live in the Catena-X ecosystem, giving the association a clear view of the reality of fragmented data exchange across all tiers
• Catena-X highlights three signals for 2026 as marketaccess evidence, cost-to-comply, and software traceability move into core operations
• The association says trusted data collaboration is becoming a strategic necessity as the industry adapts to tougher proof requirements, rising compliance cost, and software-driven risk
• Shift is set to change how the industry trades, competes, and manages risk
Catena-X Automotive Network e. V., the industry’ s self-governed ecosystem for securely exchanging sovereign data, is outlining three new realities it sees for 2026, based on its cross-industry view of data flows across the entire global automotive value chain.
Data is shifting from a back-office task to a boardlevel priority as it becomes essential operational infrastructure. Proof requirements are tightening market access, data overhead is rising and software traceability is now central to risk exposure. In an increasingly software-defined value chain, this shift is set to change how the industry trades, competes, and manages risk.
Battery Passport is a major driver of product-level proof requirements, and Catena-X already provides infrastructure – supported by certified solutions – designed to make compliance more efficient while creating real business value.
Hanno Focken, Managing Director, Activation, Governance and Operations, Catena-X, said:“ We are seeing a major shift in what the industry is being asked to prove. Data is becoming a condition of trade and a real cost-to-serve. At the same time, cyber incidents are increasingly becoming a product recall risk. Work that used to sit in the background is now affecting market access and margins. Catena-X exists to make trusted interoperable exchange practical across every tier of the supply chain, while protecting data sovereignty.”
The global automotive industry is entering a phase where information bottlenecks can be as disruptive as parts shortages. Fragmented data exchange is now a systemic risk. Competitiveness will increasingly depend on how effectively companies can collaborate across organisational and regional boundaries while protecting data sovereignty. Against that backdrop, Catena-X highlights three signals for 2026 that are driving data work into core operations.
The automotive sector has spent decades trying to optimise physical supply chains in response to disruption, but Catena-X exists because today’ s data ecosystem is still fragmented and opaque. Critical information moves through spreadsheets, PDFs and one-off IT integrations, creating cost and delays – especially when disruption hits.
Catena-X enables secure, interoperable, trusted data exchange across companies at all levels within the supply chain while protecting data sovereignty, guided by Catena-X standards. Adoption is scaling as major OEMs in Europe increasingly mandate Catena-X integration into supplier contracts. Eight of the world’ s top ten automotive suppliers are live in the ecosystem, and participants can connect in one or two weeks and see savings within the first month. The EU Digital
12 AUTOMATION, CONTROL & ENGINEERING