By- wire systems have been established for several years in the area of aircraft construction and there are now approaches to utilize this technology in vehicles. The required electronic systems must evidently be available and safe. In the same time the requirements of mass production have to be reached (long life time, long maintainability intervals, low costs, fulfillment of standards). This paper addresses a new automotive architecture approach - based on a time triggered architecture - and a framework for the application design of future by-wire systems in vehicles.