Electronics and Software Engineering are quickly merging with traditional Mechanical Engineering to create a new paradigm in auto manufacturing: Mechatronics. Industry experts predict that this shift will bring about profound advances in automotive product development. Unfortunately, existing IT and process infrastructures do not provide sufficient capabilities to support the new paradigm: multiple data silos, a lack of standardized processes, and integration issues on a tool level (Mechanical, Electronic, Software) continue to pose serious obstacles to development efficiency, and remain a frequent source of delays, quality issues and cost increases.