26th Global Automotive Executive Survey: Thriving in the Age of Moving Targets (KPMG Switzerland)

Summary

• 52% of respondents agree that continuous transformation is now the norm for the automotive industry, not a program with an end date.p.7
• On average, only 36% of AI and software initiatives have scaled beyond the pilot phase and been adopted across the organization.p.7
• Half of respondents believe trust in digital and connected features will decide which companies win or lose over the next three years.p.7
• Only 5% of respondents feel very prepared to respond to geopolitical and regulatory pressures.p.7
• 44% of value creation may be enabled by external partnerships and ecosystems over the next three years, up from 30%.p.7
• 92 percent of companies say it takes them 12 months or more to scale a new digital, software or AI use case from pilot to enterprise-wide deployment.p.27

Key insights

1. The survey is a quantitative study of 775 senior automotive executives across Europe, APAC and the Americas.p.3
2. Pacesetters are a group of 53 companies with annual revenue greater than US$1 billion that report outperformance versus competitors.p.10
3. 62 percent of pacesetters expect significant to fundamental change in procurement and supply management, versus 46 percent of non-leaders.p.15
4. 55 percent of pacesetters expect disruption in their operating models, compared with 43 percent of non-leaders.p.15
5. 39 percent of executives say they are equally focused on growth and capital discipline, while 42 percent lean toward growth initiatives against 20 percent toward capital discipline.p.18
6. Forty-nine percent describe their software-defined products and over-the-air capabilities as established or embedded, and 42 percent say the same about their SDV strategy.p.26
7. Digital strategy and value realization is the most mature capability at 56 percent, while AI and analytics adoption sits at 42 percent and AI in supply chain and operating models at 37 percent.p.28
8. 50 percent of executives agree that trust in digital and connected features will significantly influence which companies win or lose, while 17 percent disagree.p.31