AIAG named North American hub for Catena-X, cementing data alliance across the region

By 2030, the automotive industry will need to trace over one billion data points worldwide to meet rapidly evolving regulations and stakeholder expectations, according to Dr Bing Xu, senior director of the Catena-X North America Hub at the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG). In a move to help the industry manage this scale of complexity, AIAG has been named the official North American hub for Catena-X, a digital infrastructure built to enable standardised, secure and open data collaboration across the automotive value chain.

The announcement was made by Kevin Piotrowski, AIAG’s chief transformation officer, during the Automotive Logistics & Supply Chain Digital Strategies North America conference in Nashville. Joined by Jon Jacobson, Catena-X board member and IBM executive, Piotrowski confirmed that the partnership has now moved from a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed in late 2024 to a formal agreement – solidifying AIAG’s role in supporting the rollout of Catena-X infrastructure across the US, Mexico and Canada.

A secure, interoperable ecosystem

Catena-X offers a departure from the industry’s traditional, fragmented approaches to data sharing. Rather than relying on legacy one-to-one exchanges or siloed systems, it enables real-time, peer-to-peer data collaboration across entire supply networks, regardless of platform or IT provider.

“As an industry, we know data drives us, right?” said Piotrowski. “All of us have a lot of data in our enterprises and it especially gets large when you go outside of your enterprise… The better companies manage that data and drive decisions farther down in their organisation, those companies will have a competitive advantage.”

Key industry use cases

The Catena-X use case library already spans topics such as:

• Auditable product carbon footprint (PCF) tracking across suppliers.
• End-to-end traceability of parts and materials for recalls and compliance.
• Real-time collaborative quality management to speed up defect resolution.
• A “battery passport” that records an electric vehicle battery’s full lifecycle data for regulatory and sustainability purposes.

Explaining the need for such capabilities, Dr Xu said during a panel session at the conference: “Unfortunately all the existing systems… cannot work for today's situation.”

He added that while previous systems like IMDS were effective for early compliance efforts, they have now become narrow and siloed: “When we talk about [things like] tariffs, that system won’t work... Everybody wants to develop their own one... So, that’s why we need a system that can solve the problem, get rid of the silo and make sure the secure data transaction is working.”

Ford-Flex pilot

One of the most advanced pilots in North America is being conducted by Ford Motor Company in partnership with Flex Automotive, a tier-one supplier. The pilot focuses on PCF tracking using verifiable supplier data exchanged via Catena-X.

The value became clear when Flex conducted a comparison of generic emissions data versus primary data from its supply chain.

“When we looked at one of our specific Ford parts and we actually brought in primary data through our own supply chain, the PCF dropped by 84%,” said Nicole Stevenson, Flex’s vice president of business strategy and marketing. “It could have just as easily gone the other way… You might think you're doing okay using average data, but then find out when you get the real data that you're not meeting a spec.”

The emissions estimate dropped from approximately 7kg of CO₂ to just 1kg, once primary data from a sub-tier supplier – connected via Siemens software – was shared using the Catena-X architecture.

Encouraged by these results, Ford and Flex expanded the pilot. In the next phase, data flowed from Ford to Flex (using T-Systems), and then down to additional suppliers, before being aggregated and sent back. Ford used SAP, Flex used T-Systems, and their suppliers used Siemens – but all three systems were able to interoperate due to Catena-X’s standard connector and semantic data models.

As Stevenson explained: “We’re looking at about 46% reduction in the values… and the biggest thing that we're doing, we're able to bring on another tier… it's exponential how much better the data accuracy gets when you're bringing in more of the supply chain”.

The process is also more scalable. Instead of building bespoke connections for every customer, Flex and its suppliers can use one standardised interface across OEMs.

“You’re not having something different for each one of your customers,” Stevenson said. “Once you're set up, you can go with all of your customers when they're engaged”.

Just as importantly, data sovereignty is preserved. “Knowing that our data is safe, within our control, is a beautiful aspect of this,” Stevenson added.

Global alignment and local leadership

Catena-X was launched in Germany in 2021, backed by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and the German Association of the Automotive Industry. It now comprises over 190 member companies, including OEMs, Tier-N suppliers and IT providers.

With AIAG as the official North American hub, companies in the US, Canada and Mexico can now participate in – and influence – this global ecosystem.

“With AIAG as the North American hub, we’re enabling OEMs and suppliers of all sizes to achieve unprecedented transparency and visibility, while retaining full control over their data,” Piotrowski said.

Oliver Ganser, chairman of the Catena-X board, emphasised the significance of the regional expansion: “We’re excited to expand and strengthen our collaborative approach to tackle some of our industry’s toughest challenges… reducing costs and driving sustainable practices across the value chain.”

Jacobson, Catena-X board member and IBM executive, added: “AIAG is the perfect match for North America – bringing together the collaborative spirit, expertise and trusted relationships needed to make Catena-X work for every company, large or small, across the automotive value chain.”

The announcement was marked by a presentation followed by a ceremonial handshake between AIAG and Catena-X leadership at the Automotive Logistics & Supply Chain Digital Strategies North America conference.

“We’re just starting,” said Piotrowski. “We were under an MOU agreement. We’re now the second hub under formal contract. Expect us to do a lot more, with a lot more of you and a lot more of your solution providers as well.”

Watch the moment AIAG and Catena-X made it official