DaimlerChrysler, BMW and Volkswagen declined to sign contracts that would have allowed them to carry on as members when AMI-C officially changes its operating status from a "collaboration" to a nonprofit corporation during the next few weeks.

The exodus raises questions about AMI-C's ability to create network bus standards for next-generation automotive electronics, particularly because the three defectors have been developing a high-speed fiber-optic bus for use in their own vehicles. "This is a major blow for AMI-C," said Paul Hansen, publisher of The Hansen Report on Automotive Electronics. "The loss of Volkswagen is important because it has the largest sales in Europe.

And Mercedes DaimlerChrysler is a loss, not only because it's well ahead of the pack as an innovator but also because it takes Chrysler with it."

The departure of the three German-based car companies leaves nine automakers — Ford, Fiat, General Motors, Honda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, PSA/Peugeot-Citron, Renault and Toyota — in the consortium.

Automotive analysts believe the departure of the three German companies will weaken AMI-C but not to the point where the consortium will be unable to achieve its goals. "It's disappointing and not a good sign for standards," Hansen said. "But AMI-C definitely will continue and will start to produce some good standards."

The decision by the three automakers to discontinue their membership is seen as a stumbling block not only for AMI-C but for the auto industry at large. AMI-C members formed the organization two years ago to deal with the burgeoning growth of automotive electronics. The fast pace of innovation had become a problem for auto companies, many of which wanted simpler implementations of navigation systems, CD players, video screens, digital radios, cell phones and a host of other devices. By drawing 12 of the world's biggest automakers into the organization, AMI-C had hoped to set the stage for creation of standard plug-and-play devices.

Problems surfaced between AMI-C and the German companies last year, however, when consortium representatives from BMW, DaimlerChrysler and Volkswagen complained that the organization was not moving quickly enough on standards development. The German automakers, which have been developing the fiber-optic media-oriented systems transfer (Most) network bus, were hung up several times during the course of the year by discussions over issues involving licensing fees and openness. During that time, the Most Cooperation eliminated its licensing fees and offered to open the specification to users. But while AMI-C subsequently agreed to endorse the technology, the German automakers thought the development of standards was taking too long.

"We wanted to bring in the results from our developments and standardize them, but we found it wasn't possible with this kind of organization," said Christian Thiel, who is in charge of networking and system integration of infotainment systems at BMW. "Our expectations have not been met during the past two years."

Political preoccupation?

Some engineers within the German technical community said they thought the organization was focused too much on politics and not enough on the task of producing standards.

As a result, the three auto companies balked at renewing their membership when AMI-C recently announced that it planned to cease operating as a cost-sharing collaboration and become a nonprofit organization. The move was designed to streamline organizational aspects but required members to sign a thick legal document outlining the nature of such matters as fees, budgets, licensing, administration and steering committee issues. AMI-C executives said the nine other participants have signed and returned their contracts.

The German automakers also said they disliked the idea of sending full-time employees to AMI-C's facilities to collaborate on technical issues. AMI-C's charter calls for member companies to contribute to the development of standard technologies, and the organization has even developed a formula to ensure that member companies make sufficient personnel contributions.

BMW, for one, was hesitant to make that kind of commitment. "We want our experts to contribute, but we don't feel that it's feasible for us to do it in a permanent way," Thiel said.

On the verge

AMI-C executives said the timing of the move was unfortunate for the industry because the consortium was on the verge of major progress. AMI-C is expected to move into its first dedicated facility, in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., on Feb. 1. There, consortium members plan to co-locate their engineers and further develop specifications for use with such network buses as Most, IDB-1394 and IDB-C (Intelligent Transportation Systems Databus-CAN, or controller-area network).

AMI-C organizers claimed the group had spent its first two years tackling legal matters to ensure that it wouldn't get bogged down by antitrust issues down the road. "When you put 90 percent of the biggest auto companies in the world together and try to get them to cooperate, it can be a risky business," said Mike Noblett, program manager for AMI-C. "So it's been slow, but it's been necessarily slow."

Most of the legal negotiating is now behind AMI-C, said Noblett, who now expects standards development to take on a higher priority. He also said the three German companies would be welcome to rejoin the organization at any time. "This is not a closed deal," he said.

Indeed, AMI-C members said they plan to continue working with the three automakers. "We would like to have them involved because we want a broad cross-section of carmakers represented," said Don Ingersoll, vice president of operations for AMI-C. But because BMW, DaimlerChrysler and Volkswagen are no longer members, they will not be able to contribute to the development of specifications or to vote on the organization's future operations.

Fiber-optic bus still critical

Industry analysts don't expect the move to have a major effect on the adoption of the Most fiber-optic bus. Most, developed by a consortium that includes BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Audi, Oasis Silicon Systems and Harman/Becker, is considered critical because it offers data transfer rates far in excess of those on conventional controller-area network (CAN) buses. The Most bus operates at 25 Mbits/second, compared with 256 kbits/s for CAN buses. Its higher data rates are particularly important for such bandwidth-gobbling applications as automotive video screens.

"There might be some hard feelings, but there are still plenty of advocates of Most within GM and Ford," Hansen said. "Eventually, Most will be written in as a standard. The only question is whether it will happen as quickly as it would have otherwise."

Members of the Most Cooperation said the move will have a positive effect on the development of the fiber-optic bus, but not necessarily as an AMI-C standard. "You'll see it get deployed faster now that these companies are no longer part of AMI-C," said Henry Muyshondt, general manager of business development for Oasis Silicon Systems (Karsruhe, Germany). "Now, they'll be able to devote their full attention to Most."

AMI-C members continue to hold out hope that the three will return to the consortium. If they don't, however, industry analysts say that AMI-C will still have considerable influence over the design of future automotive multimedia systems.

"The U.S. carmakers, the Japanese carmakers, Fiat and Renault are still in the consortium," said Hansen. "And that's enough to give AMI-C critical mass."