Car Inovation

A comprehensive study
on innovation in the automotive industry

The changing role of innovations in the automotive industry
Dear Reader,
In 2001, Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman) published a
comprehensive study titled Automotive Technology 2010. Since then, this study
has become the basis for many strategy discussions in the industry and inspired
many of our automotive consulting projects. Six years later, the new study, Car
Innovation 2015, continues this trend-setting work and expands the technological
perspective to all aspects of innovations, not just the technological ones.
Car Innovation 2015 analyzes the complete framework of automotive innovations:
societal and governmental influences, technology trends, the voice of the customer,
innovation economics, and innovation management and strategies. For more than
nine months, over 30 experts at Oliver Wyman have contributed to Car Innovation
2015. The study comprises an in-depth expert poll, a consumer panel, a strategic
choice analysis, a thorough analysis of more than 300 innovations, a car dealer
field study and intensive database research.
This brochure introduces the five topics that Car Innovation 2015 addresses:
megatrends, technology, customer, business, strategy and organization. It also
contains recommendations and areas of action involving innovation management at
automotive suppliers and car manufacturers. During 2007, we will publish special
brochures covering each chapter and, of course, there will be in-depth company
presentations by Oliver Wyman experts to those interested in realizing some of the
ideas presented
in the study.
Stagnation means regression to innovation management in the automotive
industry. All of the auto executives whom Oliver Wyman interviewed in the course of
the study were convinced that innovation was one of the most important success
factors to maintaining a strong competitive position in the auto market. Innovation
is also a key to resolving most of the global challenges that the industry faces.
Without innovations by the auto industry, the entire concept of individual mobility is
put at risk.
In its analysis of more than 300 innovations, Oliver Wyman has identified the
potential for commercial blockbusters, such as hybrids, sequential multistage
turbochargers, light-emitting diodes, intelligent driver-machine interfaces or electromechanic braking technologies. Electronics remains the biggest enabler of and
driver behind 60 percent of all innovations. But the focus is shifting from single to
system innovations, i.e. new functions in a car through the networking of existing
components and modules. Almost all areas of a car will improve: fuel efficiency (up
to 30 percent), emissions, safety and security, seamless connectivity and
infotainment, driving dynamics and performance, comfort, flexibility and room and
with more value for the mone However, both OEMs and car suppliers do not always
meet the needs of the end customer. Most car drivers want sound, reliable products
at affordable prices. The total cost of ownership will remain the most important
buying factor a fact that limits the number of successful innovations in the auto
industry. Today, the entire innovation process, from the customer, the car dealer
and the OEM marketing department to R&D at both OEMs and suppliers, is highly
inefficient and ineffective. Within the next ten years, approximately EUR 800 billion
will be spent on R&D roughly 40 percent of that money will be invested incorrectly.
For this reason, every OEM and supplier must screen its innovation portfolio to
identify the innovations that really promise to meet the drivers needs. An
integrated and focused marketing plan will help position the concept of innovation
in the drivers mind.
In 2005, the industry invested EUR 68 billion in R&D that is 4.2 percent of sales,
or
EUR 783 per vehicle. The continuous cost pressure in the automotive industry
created by legislation, competition, increasing risk and stagnating customer
demands has a strong impact on innovation management. Traditional cost-cutting
programs are not enough our forecast shows an additional EUR 1,500 of cost
reduction (or 11 percent of costs) must be implemented to make car production a
profitable business in the future. OEMs and suppliers will have to significantly
improve efficiency in all R&D processes to keep costs under control. Furthermore,
the effectiveness of each innovation must be investigated. Cost-improvement
measures, such as offshoring of engineering, complexity-reduction programs,
standardization and modularization or the development of low-cost cars
will help the industry control some of the cost increases produced by the growing
number of functions.
This will be accompanied by structural changes in the auto industrys R&D
departments. OEMs will only slightly increase their R&D spending. While Western
car manufacturers will cap their R&D investments, OEMs from China, India and
South Korea will boost their spending on innovation. Overall, the supplier sector and
engineering service companies will be the winners of this development with
additional R&D spending of EUR 20 billion
in 2015 (in 2005: EUR 46 billion). The concentration process in the supplier industry
will improve innovative strength and networking opportunities with other partners
another
way of cutting costs while increasing the quality of innovations.
Oliver Wyman has analyzed the innovation strategies of the industrys most
successful auto companies. The study Car Innovation 2015 identifies the levers
that car manufacturers and suppliers must pull to become state-of-the-art
innovation leaders. Depending on the business design of the supplier and OEM, four
dimensions must be brought into alignment: innovation proposition, competence
focus and collaboration, innovation business case, and innovation organization and
structure. The leading suppliers in innovation management generate a 16 percent
higher EBIT margin than their peers all by employing a clear innovation strategy
and balance along those four dimensions. The Oliver Wyman study Car Innovation
2015 concludes with five recommendations for innovation management in the
automotive industry:
Increase customer orientation and marketing focus on R&D Generate a

diverse innovation product & services portfolio Improve R&D effectiveness
and efficiency;
reduce innovation risks Enhance the innovation culture and organization
Align innovation strategy according to Oliver Wymans
Innovation Strategy Framework

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A comprehensive study

on innovation in the automotive industry

Increase customer orientation and marketing focus on R&D Generate a

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