Incremental and radical shifts in the automotive networks and innovative processes

Résumé:

During the last quarter of the 20th century the automotive industry has developed highly structured and highly mature value networks and production systems, similarly applied by practically all car manufacturers. Their innovation processes also tend to become uniform, essentially driven by common work division patterns, and by common practices regarding cycle time and risk management.
This systemic equilibrium is currently disturbed by many change factors, such as:
- a pressing need for disruptive innovations in the mature automotive markets;
- industrial and market specificities in the emerging markets;
- societal pressure demanding radical improvements in environmental performance;
- pre-production cost both failing to be contained and squeezed by the profitability equation.
In addition, electric vehicles and electric mobility come along with their own game changers, calling for a transformation (or at least an extension?) of the value network.
After a review of these change factors, a vision of the possible trajectories is proposed, regarding value networks as well as innovation processes.
Will systemic inertia set boundaries to what cars can be to their users? Can gradual evolutions provide adequate responses to societal and market needs? Or are radical paradigm changes a survival condition for what is known today as the automotive industry? Each question may receive a positive answer, within certain timing and market limits.