Along with New Year resolutions, the automotive industry loves to make some predictions for the year ahead. As we’re just now tipping our toes into 2023, it’s a great time to reflect back on 2022 and see how accurate the most popular beginning-of-the-year predictions actually were.

1. It’s a wrap on car shows – a prediction that was more or less true. Although some physical auto shows and launches still took place, we’ve entered a new era of digital launches, leaving big and glamorous auto shows behind.
2. Chip shortage will continue – definitely hit the mark with that one. There’s no denying chip shortage continues to wreak havoc in the entire industry.
3. Fuel prices will rise – no arguments there! Fuel prices continued to increase throughout the entire 2022 and we are not too optimistic about what’s to come in that area in 2023 either.
4. New vehicle average prices will cross USD 50,000 – whether we’re happy about it or not, but let’s just say that new records were set.
5. Focus will shift on privacy – as we’ve covered in a few previous articles, privacy and data collection have most certainly become the focal points of the automotive industry.

These were some of the most popular predictions for the automotive market for 2022. We’re excited to hear what you see happening this year!

Source: Jalopnik.com

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Digitization has been one of the focal points of automotive manufacturing for over a decade now, but as with any innovation, it presents its fair share of challenges. From various environmental aspects to hardware obstacles, there’s a lot to consider.

Although the industry as a whole has always embraced innovation with open arms and made it a point to keep improving efficiency and continuously up the level of safety when it comes to vehicles, here are some of the main challenges the industry faces with digitization and quality assurance.

Challenging conditions inhibit integration – the average consumer hardware cannot withstand the effects of continuous operation in heavy industrial environments. Thus, suitable hardware has to be able to withstand severe temperature changes and fluctuations in power supply. 

High cost of deployment – integrating 4.0 solutions of the industry comes with quite a hefty price tag not all companies are able to afford.

The search for the right hardware – the main challenge is to find hardware that’ll be able to deliver the objective of the application. This has to be done whilst keeping in mind the high quality assurance standards of the automotive industry. A suitable device has to be versatile and capable of hosting multiple sensors and cameras among many other factors.

Source: eetasia.com

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In mid-November, The European Commission (EC) introduced their proposal for Euro emission regulations, stating that all new cars and vans that are sold in the EU from 2035 cannot emit any CO2. This clearly means that not only will local automakers have to make adjustments to their products gearing more towards electric vehicles, but manufacturers across the world will have to adjust accordingly. Cars from overseas and other continents have to adhere to the regulations in the EU to be able to be sold within the region.

With most emphasis going on the production of EVs, there’s an inevitable change taking place in the supply chain as well. The demand for specific car components will increase, as EVs rely on batteries and other components. All these updates need to be implemented to meet the criteria for electrification and zero-emission goals.

However, the effects will go beyond just automakers, as even tyre manufacturers will be impacted. If the proposal passes, they will need to adjust their products to meet the new standards and be allowed for sale on the EU market.

One thing’s for sure – if the new regulations are applied there’s a lot more adjustments and changes various players in the automotive sector across the world will have to make to keep their place on the EU car market.

Source: automotiveworld.com

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Although German car brands have been bold in their electrification goals, it seems the ambitious targets might not be as attainable as it seemed at first glance.

A little over a month ago, the German auto industry had to take a step back from their hopes of stealing the EV crown from Tesla, as big players such as Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz ran into some unpredicted troubles.

While Volkswagen is struggling with their software, they’ve had to postpone their Trinity flagship electrification project for at least 2 years. At the same time, Mercedes’ false predictions regarding the market had them cutting the price of their flagship EQS EV in China by around 33,000 USD. 

These misjudgements have left the industry wondering if the ambitious goals are truly attainable or if the enormous amounts being poured into the transition are actually reasonable investments. While automakers around the world are doing their best to come to terms with the massive shift from combustion engines, German manufacturers who pride themselves in premium technology and luxury, feel the pressure of having a reputation to uphold.

Now, German automakers want to lead the transition to electrification, but it seems they might not actually have the necessary tools or knowledge to take the wheel. Only time will tell if they’ll be able to keep their pristine reputation and get that crown from Tesla eventually. 

Source: europe.autonews.com

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In just 1960, pretty much the only electronics in cars was the radio. Fast forward 60 plus years, and according to different sources, modern cars can use up to 3,000 semiconductor chips.
This means the production of a single vehicle will inevitably take a lot longer than it used to. This shift has happened due to many factors from amping up the performance to meeting consumer demands, but all in all the need for all the chips have been caused by shifting the focus from hardware to software in today’s vehicles.

The main challenge with automotive chips is that they need to be far more reliable and durable to extreme conditions than average consumer chips. From extreme temperature changes to enduring constant shocks and vibrations, it takes a lot more time and effort to produce automotive semiconductor chips than the ones in our smart phones for example.

The good news is that manufacturers are finding new ways to speed up the production again and hopefully the days of chip shortage will soon be a thing of the past for the automotive industry.

Source: forbes.com

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As most car software components are developed by third parties and contain open source, there’s a high security risk when using such software. This is why vigilant manufacturers are now implementing SBOM (software bill of materials) to stay on top of the security and quality aspects of procured software.

By starting their software risk management with SBOM, manufacturers can guarantee that their final products adhere to the industry security and compliance requirements. They’ll be able to detect vulnerabilities in the open source components, make more informed security decisions, whilst complying with various security and licensing requirements, and use actionable vulnerability intelligence in order to secure vehicles against cybersecurity threats.

There’s still a lot to learn about the security of automobiles as more automotive software gets implemented in the final products, but implementing a SBOM is certainly a vital step to take for any manufacturer.

Source: scmagazine.com

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Shaky grounds

While innovation is the name of the game, it’s currently not being based on the most solid of foundations. Supply chain challenges are still an ongoing struggle, countless safety regulations need to be considered, suitable software is still being developed, and the relationships among OEMs, suppliers and semiconductor producers are constantly changing – all of these factors make for a fairly unstable ground to adjust to the necessary and inevitable changes on the automotive electronics landscape.

Preparing for change

As electrification and increasing customer expectations and demands influence the market, the car industry is in for a shakeup of a century. Consumers are expecting their cars to start playing a similar role to their beloved smartphones, whilst boasting a number of new services and features and offering safety like never before. Considering the already baffling electrical architecture of current offerings on the market including hundreds of electronic control units, pushing things further is quite a tall order to say the least.

Feeling the outside influences, the fact is that automotive design is going to be turned upside down. OEMs are gearing up to embrace domain-based architecture with the help of high-performance computers, figuring out ways to take the safety of cars to a whole new unprecedented level and do all of that while fighting for their direct access to automotive design.

Let us know when do you think all of these ambitious plans will come into fruition and how do you see those changes reflecting on the average price tag.

Source: eetimes.com

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With the 2035 ban on the production of gasoline and diesel cars looming over EU automakers, they are urged to keep the production of internal combustion cars going.

Just recently, the agreement to ban the production of new combustion-engine cars in the EU from 2035 was reached. Although this is a huge step in reimagining transportation as we know it and reducing carbon emissions, EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton is now asking automakers to keep producing combustion cars in order to create quality jobs and support the export force.

The green light given to the all-electric approach in the European auto industry is not only posing a risk to employment, but also challenging the affordability of vehicles. Whilst Breton commands carmakers opting to deliver a fully electrified offering by 2035, he believes a more responsible approach would be to keep the production of internal combustion cars going as well. He has given a bleak prediction of what might happen if the price of electric vehicles remains as is and how the workforce of the industry is going to suffer.

Agreeing with car companies such as Stellantis, Breton fears the car market is in for a collapse unless the price point of EVs is significantly lowered. What is more, the fully-electric road may lead the industry to lose roughly 600,000 jobs. Breton now has his fingers crossed that the 2026 reviewing of the agreement will result in postponing the 2035 deadline.

Source: europe.autonews.com

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Automakers are eager to share their cash, knowledge and tech to secure their spot in the future of transportation.

Although one has its wheels firmly on the ground, whilst the other is looking to take our daily commutes to the skies, it seems inevitable that progressive carmakers and futuristic eVTOL start-ups need to team up for the ultimate benefit of both sides. Electric aircrafts may seem like a thing of the future, but with the demand that’s predicted to rule the market in ten years, it’s time for eVTOL companies to learn a thing or two about mass production from the seasoned car manufacturers.

Make no mistake, however — such perfect pairings like Joby Aviation and Toyota, Archer Aviation and Stellantis, and Eve Air Mobility and Porsche (to name a few), are definitely a win-win situation for both sides. Although carmakers may be putting in the cash and sharing their tech and know-how with the newcomers, teaming up with innovative eVOLT companies helps car marques find out more about this futuristic niche and find their footing in the future of air transportation. With hundreds of millions of dollars on the line, the world is eager to see what these motorized partnerships are going to bring to the market.

Source: robbreport.com

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With Chinese-built electric vehicles coming in, by 2025, Europe has the potential to become a net importer of cars.

According to a recent study by Pwc, Europe is currently moving in the direction of having 800,000 Chinese-built vehicles available on the European market in less than three years. If this prediction were to turn into reality, Europe would become a net importer of cars. This would also increase the import surplus to over 221,000 cars in 2025.

The back story behind such forecasts is the fact that not only are Chinese brands ramping up to significantly increase their share on the European market within the next few years, but many European brands are currently moving their vehicle production to China to lower manufacturing costs.

Although most Chinese car brands are still relatively unknown on the European market and have had their fair share of challenges when trying to establish their footing, this time they come with a competitive advantage in the form of fully electric vehicles. Meanwhile, the ongoing supply chain challenges and local production costs are pushing Western brands such as Tesla, the Renault Group, BMW and many others to shift their manufacturing processes to China.

At this rate, the European car market is definitely set to see some strong newcomers in the upcoming years.

Source: europe.autonews.com

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