Automotive Testing Trends and Challenges in 2026
In 2026, the automotive industry stands at a turning point. As newer, up-and-coming automotive brands challenge the established OEMs, digital experiences have become the core differentiator. The vehicle is no longer a standalone piece of hardware, but a part of a sprawling, software-centric digital ecosystem.
From AI-powered companion apps and in-car payments to the rapid rollout of over-the-air (OTA) updates, digital quality has become as important as mechanical engineering. This flurry of innovation brings a new set of high-stakes challenges for QA and product teams. Brands must extend QA beyond the traditional technical development (TD) departments to keep pace with rising consumer expectations and rigorous safety requirements.
To succeed in 2026 and beyond, automotive leaders must rethink how they validate complex, interconnected features in the real world, across diverse geographies and under true-to-life conditions.
1. Connected car experiences and companion apps
Automotive brands are continuing to invest heavily into connected car experiences. At the forefront of this trend are companion apps. They serve as the primary digital touchpoint for customers, extending and maintaining the post-purchase customer relationship.
These companion apps now go beyond basic features, like remote locking and unlocking or “find my car” functionality. Advanced features bring the connected car experience to a new level, with AI-powered trip management, remote heating, security innovations like theft alerts and “sentry mode,” and conversational assistants.
However, with these new features come new testing challenges:
- Companion apps must work across hundreds of phone models, OS versions, wearables and regions. These variables are almost impossible to recreate in lab-only QA.
- Voice control systems must be able to reliably recognize a huge variety of languages, accents and dialects — within what can be a noisy environment. As the number of voice-controlled features increases, QA becomes more challenging.
- AI-powered features, such as service recommendations and route mapping, add a further level of complexity. They must be evaluated differently, tested for bias and accuracy, even in edge cases.
Case study
Audi Case Study
Learn how Applause helps Audi to grow its built-in quality practice within the myAudi solution.
2. Software-defined vehicles and over-the-air updates
As more and more software is integrated into cars, particularly among newer, more innovative carmakers, traditional OEMs are now racing to close the gaps. A recent IBM report found that 75% of auto industry executives expect software-driven experiences to be central to brand value by 2035.
This trend is giving rise to software-defined vehicles (SDV): modern autos that use software, rather than hardware, to manage core functions. Via over-the-air (OTA) updates, SDVs can be upgraded on demand, receiving new features and continuous improvements via the cloud — almost like a ‘smartphone on wheels.’
Drivers benefit from enhancements and updates delivered to their car on the fly, while automotive brands are able to innovate at greater speed. They can push upgrades and bug fixes on demand and unlock new opportunities to generate revenue through subscriptions and add-ons.
At the same time, SDVs present a considerable QA challenge. Testing teams need to balance OTA release velocity against quality and safety requirements. Releases need to be validated in the field with regression testing before and after release, safe rollback strategies and continuous monitoring of real-world performance.
“Applause allows us to deploy updates and new features with a lot more confidence knowing they have been tested in real-world conditions with testers with real vehicles. That is the big picture.”
Matt Vance, Quality Manager for myAudi
3. Digital dealerships and omnichannel buying journeys
It’s not only the in-car experience that is going digital — the car buying journey is increasingly moving online, too. Customers now prefer omnichannel experiences, blending online research with in-store interactions. Digital dealerships include features and functions such as car configurators, VR/AR showrooms, e-contracting and online ID verification.
With fierce competition among OEMs, but also between OEMs and third-party platforms, the online user experience is becoming a key differentiator. The quality, reliability and usability of the UX directly influences conversion and loyalty. It’s also vital that the omnichannel handoff works seamlessly, ensuring continuity when customers switch between digital and physical touchpoints. Saved configurations, quotes, appointments and test-drive bookings must be transferred accurately between the online dealership and the dealership’s own systems.
For QA teams, this means large-scale, locale-specific testing on a wide variety of devices. Payment testing is absolutely vital for high-stakes checkout flows. What’s more, the customer journey must be seamless across all buying funnels: new vehicle inventory, build-to-order (BTO), certified pre-owned (CPO), and subscription or leasing models.
4. In-car payment systems and in-car testing
Another promising trend is in-car payment. These systems turn the vehicle into a digital wallet, allowing drivers to pay for fuel, tolls and parking directly through the dashboard. This seamless integration removes the need for physical cards or smartphones, using secure biometrics and synched profiles to authorize transactions. By connecting with local infrastructure, the car can even automate payments for drive-thru services and EV charging sessions in real time.
From a testing perspective, in-car payments pose several unique challenges. First, they are highly situational, involving many variables such as payment methods, car models, software versions and locations. Automotive brands must validate interoperability between payment providers, fuel networks, parking platforms, fast food chains, and toll operators. It is extremely difficult to replicate these scenarios at scale.
Another challenge is testing the security of in-car payments. Tokenization, SCA, driver recognition and misuse scenarios must all be validated.
The only way to reliably test in-car payments is under real-world conditions. This means hiring testers to drive to specific locations, attempt fuel and parking payments in real vehicles, and verify that transactions are successful.
5. Electrification and EV-specific features
As the next generation of electric vehicles enters the market in 2026, we’ll see more AI-powered features, driver-assist functions and frequent OTA updates. EV brands are stepping up the race to improve the UX of their vehicles through features such as charging-station discovery, adaptive performance tuning, and new ‘functions-on-demand’ services.
There are a range of QA challenges specific to EVs. For example:
- Range and charging UX: Testing real-world range prediction, charging-station locations, payment and queuing.
- Thermal and battery management: Verifying that charging curves, pre-conditioning and battery health displays work correctly in different climates and under different use patterns.
- Grid and home integration: Testing interoperability with wallboxes, V2H/V2G services, tariffs and utility apps in real homes and parking situations.
In short, EV features are very context-specific. This makes geographically distributed, real-world testing essential. Crowdtesting EV apps and the in-car experience against real charging infrastructure can uncover failures that lab simulators cannot reproduce.
Digital quality: The new differentiator for modern automotive brands
For the future of the automotive industry, one thing is clear: the digital experience will become increasingly important as a differentiator for modern OEMs.
Whether testing that an OTA update deploys flawlessly across a global fleet or validating that an in-car payment succeeds at a remote charging station, QA teams are faced with huge challenges. The variables are simply too numerous and the environments too unpredictable for lab testing alone.
To deliver the seamless, localized and secure experiences that 2026 drivers demand, automotive brands must adopt a holistic testing strategy that extends beyond internal QA. This means prioritizing authentic user feedback, large-scale interoperability testing, and real-world validation. In an era where software defines the vehicle, digital quality is the ultimate driver of brand loyalty.
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