During the development of vehicles and vehicle parts, a huge mass of data is compiled. The problem arises to make the data accessible in a standardized manner, for post-processing tools. The standardization of data modelling and data retrieval was a big challenge for the automobile industry and their suppliers. The challenge was accepted by the ASAM consortium, which has developed during the past 18 years a mature solution for data archiving and retrieval in the domain of product testing. Today, the standard is available and the automobile car industry in Europe requests from its suppliers the implementation of this standard as part of their test bed automation systems.