From left: Sonatus general manager of Irish operations Marc Synnott, CEO and co-founder Jeff Chou and IDA Ireland executive director Mary Buckley. Image: Maxwells
The company said the new facility will support existing and future customers, while boosting its presence in the European market.
US vehicle software company Sonatus has opened an R&D and engineering centre in Dublin to expand its engineering and business capabilities.
Sonatus said it is deploying “seasoned talent” to this facility to expand its footprint in Europe, due to the region’s importance as a hub for many automotive manufacturers. The company said the new Irish facility will support the company’s existing and future customers.
The company provides in-vehicle and cloud software to help automakers deliver “software-defined vehicles”. Sonatus claims its software platform is in mass production in more than 1m vehicles from Hyundai, Kia and Genesis and expects this figure to grow.
“Software technology in vehicles is accelerating and Sonatus is at the forefront of working with vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers to enable the future capabilities consumers will demand,” said Sonatus co-founder and CEO Jeff Chou.
“We are investing in developing an R&D and engineering centre in Ireland to ensure we can respond effectively to the needs of our customers globally.”
Sonatus said it has hired a local management team of seasoned business and technical leaders to lead this new centre. Marc Synnott is serving as the general manager of Sonatus’ Irish office and overseeing business operations.
Synnott brings more than 20 years of management and financial experience to Sonatus, with recent experience at TikTok, Savvi Credit Union, RGP and HedgeServ. Synnott said the opportunities for software-defined vehicles are “expanding significantly” but that they can be technically complicated and require “collaboration between automotive manufacturers and technology leaders”.
“This new R&D and engineering centre gives Sonatus access to Ireland’s highly skilled and qualified pool of engineering and technical talent, and brings Sonatus closer to more customers as we continue to expand our business across Europe and the rest of the world,” he said.
IDA Ireland executive director Mary Buckley said the latest announcement is a “testament to the talent and expertise that global companies can access here”.
“The automotive technology market is rapidly growing and Sonatus’ arrival in Ireland will expand this important growth sector.”
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