Stellantis confirms DMS across all models for Europe by mid 2026

Speaking exclusively to this journalist, Stellantis has confirmed that it will be putting driver monitoring into all its European cars by mid-2026. Furthermore, I believe Valeo and Seeing Machines are the suppliers of its latest interior monitoring technology, which is set to go into production this summer.

A spokesperson for Stellantis confirmed to me this week that: ā€œAs DMS becomes a regulatory requirement, all new Stellantis vehicles registered in the UK and EU will feature the system by mid-2026. Some models will adopt it earlier if they are classified as ā€œnew typesā€ under the EU General Safety Regulation.ā€

The reason I’m so confident that Seeing Machines is the supplier of the DMS/OMS system in partnership with Valeo as the Tier 1 is because the announcement ties in with other evidence.

Evidence

Firstly, Safestocks previously confirmed that two previous wins for Seeing Machines, in June 2022 and December 2022 were with Stellantis. 

Secondly, we know that Seeing Machines and Valeo are partnered for interior monitoring and Colin Barnden, in a LinkedIn post dated April 7th 2025, confirmed Seeing Machines and Valeo as working with Stellantis. Barnden commented: ā€œQNX Cabin was demonstrated at CES 2025 running on a Qualcomm SoC, possibly the 4th generation cockpit processor, with DMS from Seeing Machines. So we can start to piece together a partnership encompassing Qualcomm/QNX/Seeing Machines, the first example of which appears to have reached production with Stellantis running DMS in the cockpit SoC.

ā€œQualcomm has previously stated the DMS can run in an accelerator on either the Snapdragon Ride or Snapdragon Cockpit processor, and the decision is left up to the automaker. So, at long last, we appear to have some evidence of the link between Qualcomm and Seeing Machines showing up in a vehicle at start of production. This information may also reinforce the conclusion that the tier-1 for the Stellantis program is Valeo, rather than Magna International.ā€

Lastly, at the recent Town Hall event, Martin Ive, Seeing Machines’ CFO, stated: ā€œWe also have 2 new OEMs going into production over the summer with a different Tier 1 [Ed – as VW is already in production with Magna, it must be Valeo]. They will add significant volume as we go through the calendar year, probably hitting more so with the ramp up in production by the time we come to the December quarter.ā€

Nothing in life is certain and, in the world of automotive, NDAs make it necessary to put together various pieces of evidence to draw conclusions. However, I’m sufficiently confident that Seeing Machines is the supplier to Stellantis to state it publicly. I hope it is of interest to investors as, to me, it confirms that Seeing Machines is set to dominate interior monitoring in passenger cars at least until 2027. 

Of course, I expect it to do so long after that date but probably under different ownership — I will explain all about that in a subsequent blog post.

Doubters should remember that Martin Ive himself stated at the recent Town Hall event that he expects (after discussion with OEMs and Tier 1s) that Seeing Machines auto volumes in Europe will go up 10x from 160k to 1.6m a quarter by June 2026, 2m overall. 

Of course, investors should do their own research and beware traders seeking to influence their views.

The writer holds stock in Seeing Machines.

US$30m contract for Seeing Machines

Great news from Seeing Machines today, as it announced a US$30m auto contract, which I think may well be PSA (part of Stellantis). However, others think it is likely to be Volvo (owned by Geely) moving from Smart Eye or even Jaguar, (owned by Tata).

If it is PSA, I look forward to state-of-the-art driver monitoring being launched in Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Opel and Vauxhall cars.

On the face of it the deal is much smaller than Smart Eye’s US$150m but, given that Seeing Machines tends to be ultra conservative, if you multiply the Seeing Machines minimum value by three and cut the Smart Eye one in half I think you’ll end up with a more realistic estimate of the value of both deals; US$90m versus US$75m.

Importantly, the announcement has confirmed that SEE management does deliver on its promises. Moreover, with the huge Consumer Electronics Show (CES) only 3 weeks away (9-13 January, 2024), I expect a lot more news to push the share price up considerably over the next month. We’ll see, I guess.

The writer holds stock in Seeing Machines.

US$32m Stellantis win boosts intrinsic value of Seeing Machines

The latest auto contract awarded to Seeing Machines carries ā€œan initial lifetime value of US$32M (A$45M)ā€ and brings the official initial cumulative lifetime value of the auto contracts won to US$321m. Opinions may vary as to who the OEM is, but I’m confident it’s Stellantis, marking an impressive follow-up on an earlier contract win in June with the European headquartered car manufacturer.

Of course, followers of this blog won’t be surprised to learn that the actual lifetime value of all these contracts is likely to be multiples of the so-called ā€˜initial lifetime valueā€, as car manufacturers make Driver/Occupant Monitoring a standard feature and these initial contract values expand.

Bizarrely, Mr Market hasn’t yet properly priced in the value of SEE’s stated auto pipeline, never mind its likely long term value, which I’d judge to be approximately US$1bn. Seeing Machines adopts a very conservative stance on the value of its auto contracts, which also hasn’t helped investors understand the intrinsic value here.

It may take a short while longer before the market cottons on, so investors must remain patient. Although, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in early January should bring announcements that will make SEE’s value in automotive clearer.

Catalysts

Fortunately, there are two catalysts that I expect will make Mr Market re-evaluate SEE’s value in the second half of this financial year.

  1. I expect the transformational aviation license deal that has long been anticipated will soon materialise, triggering upgrades from all brokers.
  2. I expect the Gen 3 Fleet product to be available in Q4 of this financial year, enabling huge Fleet contract wins. This will also trigger broker upgrades.

I’d urge all holders of Seeing Machines to have faith in their research and the intrinsic value of Seeing Machines. Never forget that price does not equal value, for as Warren Buffett noted: ā€œPrice is what you pay.Ā Value is what you get.ā€ In my opinion, at its current share price Seeing Machines is laughably undervalued.

Of course, all investors should do their own research and be prepared to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune for a little while longer. Covid, Ukraine and market jitters have previously held its share price back and, while I do fear the effects of a global recession and a possible market crash, Seeing Machines progress as a business appears unstoppable. Ultimately, a takeover will unlock the true value here regardless of overall market conditions.

The writer holds stock in Seeing Machines.

A$23m Stellantis win for Seeing Machines

It seems likely that the OEM win announced today by Seeing Machines is for Stellantis, using Magna’s driver monitoring system (DMS) in a mirror.

In any case, given the minimum lifetime value is A$23m, it is a pretty safe assumption that it will actually end up being at least three times that figure.

Cenkos close to upgrading

Broker Cenkos has maintained its 20p price target but admits it really could be lowering its discount rate and bumpting up that target price, given Seeing Machines’ accelerating win rate that is leaving competitors far behind.

Here’s the concluding comment from Marc Bunce, the Cenkos analyst covering Seeing Machines: “This new automotive DMS award comes less than two weeks since the last which further supports our view that Seeing Machines win rate and market share in automotive Driver Monitoring Systems are increasing. It is also reassuring to hear that this view is now also publicly supported by Nick DiFiore with his expectation for 40% market share by volume now marginally ahead of our expectations which represent around 38.5% by volume to 2030. We iterate our Buy recommendation and 20p valuation and note there remains significant upside in this from reductions in our discount rate, small increases in our Automotive market share expectations, increases in our cautious aftermarket expectations and the addition of aviation (we will incorporate aviation when we get visibility into meaningful contributions).”

Certainly, when Seeing Machines announces the wins I referred to yesterday I expect Cenkos to upgrade.

The writer holds stock in Seeing Machines.