Top 5 Trends in the Automotive Industry for 2017
With the constant change in consumer preferences, technological advancements and the rapid development in the emerging markets, the world economies are evolving. This evolution can be attributed to the increasing need for automation, digitization and new business models across all industries, including automotive.
Automotive industry is one of the world’s most important sectors in terms of revenue and includes a wide range of companies that are involved in activities right from designing to selling the motor vehicles and everything in between. The industry is set to witness a perfect storm of change with five disruptive technology driven trends in the future – electrification, connectivity, autonomous driving, customer-centricity and shared mobility.
Electrifying the Driving Experience
Owing to environmental concerns, stricter emission regulations and lower battery costs, electric cars will gain momentum in the coming years. Electric cars are powered exclusively by electricity and rechargeable batteries, unlike conventionally driven vehicles. However, automakers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) must develop a strategy based on market insights to increase the adoption rate, globally.
All About Connectivity
Connected cars are vehicles equipped with internet access to devices inside and outside of the vehicle. It acts as a platform for the drivers and the passengers to utilize their time in transit to access new forms of media that may concern with safety issues to a wide range of services such as infotainment, navigation, diagnostics and payments. The automotive OEMs need to enhance their automotive capabilities to take strategic decisions to drive demand and sustain the competition.
Autonomous Driving
These are vehicles capable of sensing its environments and navigating without human inputs through a wide array of technologies such as lights, radars, GPS and computer vision, etc. As of today, these vehicles are not permitted on the road without a driver, who can take control of the vehicle at a moment’s notice. According to automotive market experts, the OEMs must assess the customer buying behavior to drive their sales, thereby strengthening their market position.
Putting Customers in the Driver Seat
This will allow the automaker to involve the customers in designing the vehicles, going beyond the catalogue concept and moving to a concept of ‘make for me’ economy. Plus, 3D printing will shorten the waiting time for automotive components, making it just a click, print and install away. Manufacturers must utilize the automotive market insights to connect with their customers to drive loyalty and encourage future spend.
Shared Mobility
Today, instead of owning a car, people prefer using services offered by fleet operators. The automotive revenue pool will move significantly towards on-demand mobility services and data-driven services, resulting in a decline in sales of privately owned vehicles. Major players in the market must conduct an automotive market analysis to understand the trends and gather insights to increase sales.
No Brakes– The Accelerating ‘Infiniti’ Advantage
At Infiniti Research, we provide clients with insights on customer experience and expectation regarding price, satisfaction, etc. and help in re-aligning strategies and developing action plans to strengthen their market position, make changes to their branding strategies, facilitate supplier management, deal with regular demand shifts and capacity utilization issues.
