In a major initiative, the Automotive Special Interest Group (SIG), a joint special interest group of The SPICE User Group and The Procurement Forum, launched the Automotive SPICE initiative together with the major motor vehicle manufacturers to develop a common framework for the assessment of suppliers in the Automotive Industry.

The members of the Automotive SIG include: AUDI AG, BMW AG, DaimlerChrysler AG, Fiat Auto S.p.A., Ford Werke GmbH, Jaguar / Land Rover, Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche, Volkswagen AG and Volvo Car Corporation.

The release of the Automotive SPICE Process Assessment Model together with the associated Process Reference Model is now available. The Automotive SPICE Process Assessment Model will be used to perform conformant assessments of the software process capability of automotive suppliers in accordance with the requirements of ISO/IEC 15504-2:2003.