Moving automotive ahead

Automotive is about to set off on a brand new path—and this time it is more than hype. Whereas before high expectations for non-linear developments would quickly fade into years of silence, now four major trends—safety issues including CO2 reduction and eliminating road fatalities, the sharing economy, investment from non-traditional players, and new enabling technologies—are meeting at the same point in time. We believe the implications are clear: the traditional automotive value chain is about to see more disruption in the next decade than it has since the automobile was invented.

One possible scenario could be that providers of electric “robocabs” capable of fully autonomous driving could seize control of more than one third of the worldwide automotive mobility market by 2030.

In this issue of Automotive Insights, our exclusive publication targeting issues at the heart of the industry, we investigate the topics that automotive players need to understand to succeed in this new world. Our groundbreaking survey of this new landscape has enabled us to map out scenarios that visualize big shifts in revenue and profit performance, and we bring this knowledge to carefully selected articles that touch on themes from market transformations and disruption all the way to captive finance. The goal is to give stakeholders the advance knowledge of likely changes in the automotive ecosystem they need to make empowered choices in their strategic investments.

Just another device?

We begin in Iran’s newly reopened market, and then travel to China to take a look at the new faces of the Chinese consumer. Next, we take an in-depth look at the trends heralding in disruption, profile five archetypes adaptive to the new environment, and ask one very tough question: in the future, will a car be just another device? From there, we speak to Faurecia CEO-designate Patrick Koller about digitization’s effect on the supplier business.

We also look at the benefits of captive finance, investigate automation developments in the truck industry, and recommend topics from other industries that intersect with automotive’s interests. Last but not least, we announce our new partnership with Wind River, an Intel Corporation subsidiary with decades of embedded software leadership, rich technologyexpertise, and a long history in automotive software.