IN Brief:
- Kigen has achieved GSMA eSA certification for an automotive eSIM supporting SGP.32 v1.3.
- The implementation combines Kigen's eSIM OS with Infineon's TEGRION SLI22 automotive security controller.
- OEM samples arrive in October, alongside tools for evaluating hybrid classical and quantum-safe communications.
Kigen has achieved GSMA eUICC Security Assurance certification for its new Automotive eSIM, combining support for SGP.32 v1.3 with Infineon TEGRION automotive security silicon. The Cambridge company says it is the first eSA-certified automotive eSIM implementation supporting the latest GSMA IoT eSIM specification.
The platform combines Kigen’s eSIM operating system with Infineon’s TEGRION SLI22 automotive security controller and is certified across the SLx22 family. Kigen is using the same underlying operating system, hardware platform, development tools, and management stack across automotive, consumer, and industrial IoT variants, creating a common base for several connected device classes.
SGP.32 is designed for remote provisioning and management of eUICCs in IoT equipment, including devices with limited user interfaces or constrained network access. Version 1.3 was published by the GSMA in May 2026, adding functions that include direct and indirect profile downloads, digital activation codes, and emergency profile handling.
Those functions are particularly relevant to vehicle platforms expected to remain in service for many years. A telematics unit may need to change operator, connectivity arrangement, market, or fleet management provider long after the vehicle leaves production, so profile management has to be considered alongside the original hardware architecture.
Kigen’s Automotive eSIM uses the SLI22 controller, while related consumer and industrial variants use SLC22 and SLM22 devices. The company says the common platform is intended to reduce fragmentation across infotainment, telematics, headless vehicle systems, and other connected equipment by allowing more reuse of software and provisioning infrastructure.
The new certification also extends Kigen’s existing eSA work into an automotive implementation. The company already holds assurance across manufacturing and subscription-management processes through GSMA SAS-UP and SAS-SM certification, with remote lifecycle management provided through its hosted eIM service.
Post-quantum preparation is being handled separately from the current GSMA specification. SGP.32 v1.3 does not mandate post-quantum cryptography, but Kigen says it has implemented a hybrid key encapsulation approach combining classical and quantum-safe algorithms on the same platform. OEMs can use its C-SDK and sample eSIMs to test end-to-end communications before those mechanisms become part of a formal vehicle programme.
The distinction is important because the present certification does not make SGP.32 itself post-quantum secure. It gives vehicle developers a way to evaluate migration options around a security element that may remain embedded for a decade or more, when replacing hardware after production would be costly and operationally difficult.
Kigen says its Automotive eSIM can interoperate with more than 20 network providers prepared for digital activation and with more than 60 Secure with Kigen IoT modules. That ecosystem work sits alongside the secure element because remote provisioning depends on backend orchestration, operator support, profile delivery, and device integration as well as the eSIM hardware.
Vincent Korstanje, chief executive of Kigen, described vehicles as “long-lived software platforms”, arguing that the connectivity trust anchor must remain manageable beyond the production line. That requirement becomes more demanding as vehicles adopt software-defined features and remain connected through several ownership, service, and roaming arrangements.
The announcement is adjacent to wider SGP.32 remote provisioning work already moving into fleet applications, but Kigen’s development adds automotive eSA certification, a specific TEGRION SLI22 implementation, and a defined sampling schedule.
Kigen plans to join GSMA interoperability testing in October with its certified IoT eSIMs and eIM solution. Automotive eSIM samples in the ETSI MFF2 package are also due to be available to OEMs from October 2026, moving the product from certification into the evaluation stage for vehicle and fleet programmes.
Qualification will now shift towards integration with telematics hardware, backend provisioning, mobile network arrangements, and long term security processes. The component may be physically small, but its usefulness depends on whether those surrounding systems can support profile changes, software maintenance, and security migration throughout the operating life of the vehicle.
