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Connected, automated, shared, electric: what’s driving the pace of digital change? Summary – technical readiness, consumers, regulation and economics dictate transformation speed

SETRAM Líder en Logística de Automoción en Europa

Date of publication: 20 November 2019

Barcelona, November 20, 2019.- The PwC Consultant has published an interesting report on the digital car, trends, the next short-term keys and conclusions that invite reflection. We publish a summary below, and recommend its complete reading.

Connected, automated, shared, electric: what’s driving the pace of digital change? Summary – technical readiness, consumers, regulation and economics dictate transformation speed

Connected: sales of 5G enabled vehicles are expected to reach 16 million in the EU, US and China by 2030. However, we believe connected services mainly make a positive contribution to user experience with little potential for OEMs and suppliers to make money directly from connectivity.
Automated: we still expect people movers with Level 4 autonomy to be operating in restricted areas at less than 50km/h by 2021, however we expect a delay until 2029 in highly automated Level 4/5 vehicles making it on to the road
Shared: our research shows that 47 percent of European consumers would consider giving up their own car in favor of widely available and adequately priced autonomous robo-taxi services.
Electric: by 2030, 46 percent of new car registrations in China will be for electric vehicles. In Europe the figure will be 40 percent and in the US 35 percent. Internal combustion engines (ICE) still have the advantage when it comes to range, with only premium-priced fuel-cell electric vehicles able to compete.

These changes have fundamental implications for OEMs and their suppliers. OEMs need strategies to reduce their R&D costs through partnerships, and to focus on developing new ideas while outsourcing non-core back-office, R&D and technology solutions.

We also believe five new sustainable roles for suppliers will emerge: as smart infrastructure enablers; automated shuttle-vehicle manufacturers; platform providers; mobility intelligence providers; and vehicle feature and demand providers. Finally, new flexible and hybrid organizations need to be created, and due to the scarcity of people with the right skills, the auto industry must upskill its existing workforce to perform digital and data-management roles.