Strategies and technologies shaping the future of automotive industry sales and marketing

In recent years, with many unsettled economic, political, and social factors, the automotive industry has been facing immense pressures. Above all, macro events can disrupt supply chains, production and business, and may take years to recover from. The global environment changes and new employment patterns can reshape mobility habits and consumer behaviors. Furthermore, all players from car manufacturers to corporations, employees to families, happened to face the COVID-19 pandemic at the same time, which will have an impact on multiple environments for consideration. Car companies are expected to cope with such uncertainties while adjusting themselves into and beyond the current scenarios.

A firm-focused study investigates how automotive OEMs cope with the current situation following major events. First, exploratory interviews with highly regarded experts of top automotive OEMs and consulting firms are conducted to identify highly relevant insights from various perspectives. Given that the future is hard to foresee, the insights are then employed to create a robust set of scenarios to depict alternative possible future states. Finally, drastic measures or strategies of automotive OEMs are derived from the scenarios and backcasted return to the current situations. In addition, opportunities and extension mechanisms are highlighted to prepare for a better future in the post-COVID era.

With personal awareness of developments in corporate-wide internal digital transformation progress and efforts, many respected experts of automotive companies, consulting firms, start-ups, mobility operators, and suppliers are approached to gather a wide variety of inputs for future shocks on the automotive industry sales and marketing. Not only “known” information but also strong beliefs, vague expectations, and imaginings are accepted and encouraged, fundamentally reflecting the interest in unexpected future shocks.