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Component-based software engineering is concerned with enabling software to be assembled through systematic (re)use of carefully built software elements denoted components. In this thesis we describe how reusability benefits of component-based software engineering can be utilized for organizations acting in the vehicular domain. Attractive benefits with this approach include managing complexity through an architecture divided in components and avoidance of large monolithic structures; reduction of time-to-market since applications ideally can be assembled from pre-existing components; increased quality when applications are built from components already proven in use; and cost amortization through investment payoff by each reuse of a component.

Successful deployment of component-based development is however not simple - it depends on many strategic, technical, and business decisions. Furthermore the domain of vehicular systems represents a class of systems where component-based principles have had a limited success, in comparison to the domain of PC applications where the approach has emerged. The major reason to this is a number of important qualities that leaven all through the software life-cycle, e.g., safety, reliability, timing, and resource efficiency.

We have developed a prototype component technology tailored for the vehicular domain. The technology is based on a proposed component-model defining how component-based applications should be built and modelled in the context of vehicular systems. Our solution includes analysis tools and mechanisms supporting the process of maintaining important quality attributes in the life-cycle of software components.

Furthermore, we have used the technology to develop a typical vehicular application, demonstrated its integration with a component repository for vehicular components, and also studied real cases to evaluate our results in cooperation with industry. The results confirm the suitability of component-based principles for the domain, and also show the potential in further development of component technologies for vehicular systems.