Automotive Industry Is Entering a New Golden Era of Innovation

DETROIT--Jan. 13, 2014: The global automobile industry is entering a new golden era of innovation and advancement, and the ability to innovate in four key areas—power train, lightweight materials, connectivity, and active safety and assisted driving—will be a major factor in individual carmakers' success in the years ahead, according to new research by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The research, released today during the press preview of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, draws on several sources, including the results of a new U.S. consumer survey, an analysis of patent filings, BCG's annual study of the world's most innovative companies, and the firm's experience working with major automotive companies around the world. The findings will be published in a BCG report later this month. Here are a few highlights:

Innovation in the global automotive industry is intensifying.

Fourteen automakers are among the top 50 most innovative companies in BCG's 2013 survey, compared with 10 carmakers in 2012 and only five in 2005. Three companies (Toyota, Ford, and BMW) rank in the top 10, and nine automakers are in the top 20. For the first time since BCG began conducting this survey nine years ago, there are more auto manufacturers than consumer companies in the top 50 and more carmakers than technology companies in the top 20. R&D spending at these 14 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) increased at an annual rate of 8 percent since 2009, while spending at leading tier-one suppliers[1] rose by 5 percent a year.1 From 1995 through 2011, the number of patent applications filed by OEMs increased by only 3 percent annually, while the number of filings by tier-one suppliers rose 6 percent a year. A recovery from the 2008 crisis has resulted in the number of applications by tier-one suppliers leaping 37 percent, while the number by OEMs has jumped by 28 percent.

The focus on innovation has been in four areas: power train, lightweight materials, connectivity, and active safety and assisted driving.

The four areas had patent application growth rates of 6 to 15 percent from 1995 through 2011, compared with an average growth rate for all patent filings by OEMs and tier-one suppliers of only 4 percent. Filings in all four areas showed only an 8 percent decline from 2008 through 2009, compared with an average drop in the number of applications of 25 percent. Filings increased 10 percent faster than the average growth rate in the bounce-back years from 2010 through 2011.

Consumers value the introduction of new technologies and features.

New BCG research on U.S. consumers shows that most car buyers want to purchase a car from a company seen as innovative—almost 60 percent say this is a very or somewhat important consideration. A key characteristic of an innovative automaker, according to car buyers, is being the first to introduce new technologies. U.S. consumers see features related to connectivity, safety, and fuel economy as the most innovative in today's vehicles. Most U.S. consumers rank connectivity and safety features in the top 5 of some 20 new features in vehicles today (see exhibit).

"Innovation in the automotive industry is retaking center stage," said Xavier Mosquet, a BCG senior partner and coauthor of the study. "Consumers want to buy cars from companies that bring new technologies to market, and connectivity, safety, and fuel efficiency are three of their top priorities. The ability to innovate in these areas will be a major factor in individual automakers' success in the coming years."

Regulatory and marketplace demands with respect to fuel efficiency, connectivity, and safety, as well as technological advances that are making new features possible and reducing their cost, are driving the renewed focus on innovation.

Mosquet, who coleads BCG's global Automotive practice, and his coauthors say that OEMs and tier-one suppliers need to address three areas with a sense of urgency:

The shift from mechanical to software-driven vehicles. Cars are no longer primarily mechanical devices. Rather, automobiles are increasingly becoming software driven (literally, as well as in other ways). Given the rise of electronics and the fact that software features reduce tooling cost, as well as allow for configuration later in the product development cycle, the shift to more software in cars will continue. This shift requires auto executives to think about product life cycles—and the involvement of their companies with them—in new terms. The quickening pace of product development. Consumer electronics and technology companies have taught consumers to expect a rapid pace of innovation. This expectation will make it more and more difficult for automakers and their suppliers to adhere to the current three- to five-year product design and development process. Car manufacturers will need to experiment with alternative design processes, new development models, and in the longer term, advanced manufacturing techniques. The ability to discern early what consumers see as the most valuable innovations will also create an advantage. The increasingly prominent role of tier-one suppliers in innovation and technological development. The importance of tier-one suppliers in innovation and product development will escalate. These companies are already playing a bigger role in innovation in the areas of power train, interior design, and chassis components—historically the R&D domains of carmakers. In addition, the determinants for differentiation are shifting toward connectivity and active-safety features, in which tier-one suppliers have substantial expertise. Those manufacturers that construct the most effective collaboration models, encouraging and rewarding supplier R&D investment, will build a long-term advantage.

"Other areas of innovation loom large as well, such as alternative fuels and assisted driving," said Massimo Russo, a BCG senior partner and coauthor of the study. "Those automakers that determine how to organize themselves to harness and direct fast-moving developments in power train, lightweight materials, and, most critically, software, electronic components, and connectivity will establish a decided advantage over competitors in the near and longer term."

A copy of the upcoming report, Accelerating Innovation: New Challenges for Automakers, will be available later this month at BCG Perspectives.