Automotive consulting

The concept of what a car is for is drastically changing. The convergence of four megatrends electrification, autonomous driving, connectivity and the sharing economy is revolutionizing today’s automotive businesses. Each one of these trends is powerful on its own, but the combination of all four is profoundly disruptive and creating the need for change.

Today, OEMs dominate the auto business with very high barriers to entry: They engineer, build and sell mechanical vehicles, leveraging their mass production prowess and extensive distribution networks.

But the game is changing—new players with customer-centric business models are entering the automotive space. Customers’ mobility needs and expectations, shaped by experiences in other industries, are soaring.

Automotive players still are in a good starting position to win the customer, but they must act now, reinventing themselves in 3 key dimensions: agility to compete, customer-centricity and new business models.

Strict emissions standards and the digitization of automobiles are raising major questions among automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). What does this mean for the future of customer preferences? Does the alternative engine transition overwhelm customers? How do the sustainability mindset and vehicle connectivity transform customer expectations toward the sales and aftersales processes? Are purchase barriers becoming bigger for customers, as vehicles turn more and more into their own data centers with growing functionalities and complexity? And, importantly, what challenges do these customer expectations create for OEMs?

Stay tuned as we explore these factors and what they mean for the mobility industry. Our study, launching later this year, will look at customer expectations and preferences in light of burgeoning alternative engine types and the ever-increasing digitization of mobility. The study will capture insights for sales and aftersales in Europe, China and the US.