CATIA is a CAD/CAM/CAE commercial software suite provided by Dassault Systemes, France. It is commonly referred to as a 3D PLM software. From product conceptualization to design (CAD) to manufacturing (CAM) is supported. It provides an open development architecure through interfaces which can be used to customize or develop applications. The API's are supported in Visual Basic and C++. These API's are called as CAA2. The CAA2 are COM based interfaces. These interfaces provide a seamless integration for products developed on CATIA brand of products.
CATIA is widley used in the automotive industry for car body design.