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Automotive

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July 2020

Transforming car sales in a perfect storm

The COVID-19 crisis gives OEMs the opportunity to quickly evolve the car distribution model

The effects of the COVID-19 crisis on automotive markets highlight the fragility of the traditional car distribution system and intensify the existing need for change. Ongoing transformations such as EV sales, new car ownership models, process digitalization, and new sales models will challenge...
Automotive
June 2020

Future car sales – how to go direct?

Carmakers need to address the transition to direct sales and new business models

The physical retail store for goods and services is losing ground to new sales models and channels. Online retail, often in a direct sales set-up, continues to gain market share in almost every product category. In the automotive industry, players such as Tesla and electric vehicle (EV) start-ups,...
Automotive
June 2020

The future of hydrogen and e-fuels

Will hydrogen be the new oil?

With intensified discussions to become carbon-free, hydrogen is back at the top of the agenda for some. Others see it as over-hyped with too many limitations, especially with regard to efficiency. Similarly, e-fuels are controversial. Thus, while battery electric vehicles are starting to take...
Automotive, Utilities & alternative energy, Strategy, Sustainability
May 2020

Win the automotive COVID-19 rebound

How automotive sales & aftersales can prepare for the post-corona era

Economic lockdowns in the COVID-19 crisis have quickly and severely compromised the automotive supply chain and dealerships in unprecedented ways – car sales dropped by up to 80 percent in one month and production was stopped for weeks. The recession after the crisis will cut global car demand by...
Automotive, Marketing & sales
February 2020

The dark side of the moon: Online-offline integration in

Connecting channels is a key success factor for customer satisfaction and sales

The behavior of car buyers has dramatically changed. Nowadays, they spend more than 70 percent of their time in the buying process online, and the number of dealer visits is seldom more than one. Thus, without online-offline integration, customers do not experience a seamless journey, and the...
Automotive
January 2020

The evolution of public EV charging

What will happen when charging becomes a commodity?

The European public EV charging market is heading for disruption. Although the market is still at an embryonic stage, EV charging is already about to become a commodity and players need to innovate in several directions to stay in business. Some are still hesitating, while others are already...
Automotive, Strategy, Sustainability
December 2019

Will Chinese EV start-ups reshape the automotive industry?

The successes, challenges and roadblocks for EV start-ups

With Chinese regulators’ stimulation policy, a number of EV start-up companies have been set up since 2015. Many of them aim to launch EV products with high levels of artificial intelligence, connectivity and autonomous driving technology. In this viewpoint, Arthur D. Little reviews major players’...
Automotive, Sustainability
June 2019

Effective electric vehicle launch in Europe – Thinking

Mainstreaming BEVs in Europe takes manufacturers to challenging markets

From 2017 to 2018, electric vehicle sales in EU/EFTA countries grew significantly, by almost 40 percent (Battery Electric Vehicle (BEVs) at almost 50 percent). The EV share of sales was, however, only at 2.3 percent – more than half of which were BEVs. Markets in the region developed very...
Automotive, Sustainability
May 2019

The German market for battery-electric light commercial

The challenge of electrifying urban transport

Automotive, Sustainability
April 2019

Autonomous machines in the fast lane?

The path forward to autonomy in agriculture, construction and material handling

Imagine a field with a fleet of unmanned harvesters or a quarry in which driverless trucks transport rocks. Is this a sciencefiction scene? It actually is not: off-highway (OH) vehicles, primarily or exclusively used on private property, are autonomous pioneers in many ways. All major OEMs develop...
Automotive, Strategy