Software snafus abound, Nuro makes more cuts and VinFast takes the SPAC road

Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B.

Automakers have been struggling with software development for years now. But the stakes are higher than ever because all of these companies keep touting the coming of the “software-defined” car, in part, to compete with Tesla. It reminds me of the days when automakers (and others) called future cars “an iPhone on wheels.”

Making declarations around software is not the same as actually pulling it off. And automakers are figuring this out.

Software problems have led to an executive shakeup over at VW Group’s software arm Cariad, prompted Chinese regulators to recall 1.1 million Tesla vehicles, and caused Polestar and Volvo Cars to delay production of their respective EVs. Fisker has also reportedly struggled with software integration problems in its Ocean SUV. And that’s just this week.

Software is also leading automakers to beef up their internal teams, instead of going to suppliers. General Motors, for instance, hired Apple…