Not many years ago, Information Technology made its first appearance in automobile functions control. Since then, technical solutions have run again through all the stages of the longer evolution of computer systems. Doubtfully accepted at first in a community of electrical engineers, in the form of program-control based devices, they have now boom-evolved into integrated networks of tens and tens of active nodes, each one performing complex, often time-constrained functions. Continuous market pressure for all-in-a-car integrated services (including engine control, x-by-wire drive, passenger comfort control, environment interaction, web services) claims for deployment of the most advanced system and software engineering research results. Automotive issues have become a leading applicative domain for experimenting advances in these fields. Selected experts worldwide, representing all the involved actors (car makers, technology suppliers, researchers, end-users) are invited to present their position papers and discuss, in interactive panels, the mutual impact between current/future achievements in Software Engineering and emerging features in automotive technology.