AutomotiveInnovations: Mercedes-Benz leading premium brand in innovations (2016-2019)

• In a multi-year perspective (2016-2019) Mercedes-Benz is the the most innovative premium brand ahead of Audi, BMW and Tesla.
• Audi and Lexus have improved their position in the ranking (compared to 2013-2015). With Nio and Wey, two purely Chinese premium brands are already in the top 15.
• Above all, the GM brand Cadillac and the Honda division Acura lost significantly in rankings.

The premium brands from Germany remain the most innovative brands ahead of Tesla and Volvo (cf. Figure 1). This is shown in a current study by the Center of Automotive Management (CAM), which analyzed the vehicle technology innovations of 31 premium brands. The comparison is based on over 1,100 innovations that were produced in series models between 2016 and 2019 (1st half of the year). All innovations were evaluated according to quantitative and qualitative criteria (MOBIL approach, https://www.auto-institut.de/download/MOBIL-Approach.pdf ), whereby the technology field "conventional drives" was not included in the investigation due to the irregularities in the course of the diesel channel.

Mercedes-Benz is with almost 180 new innovations, the most innovative premium brand, followed by Audi and BMW. The gap in innovation strength between the top performer Mercedes (390 index points) and the second Audi (252 index points) is particularly large. One reason for this are the many highly valued world novelties that Mercedes can book for itself. These include, for example, the parking accident reporting system in the E-Class, the MBUX operating system in the A-Class, the Energizing Coach in the GLE, aerodynamic body innovations in the CLA and others. A total of 77 absolute world-new innovations or those relating to specific segments were recognized. Audi and BMW come to a significantly lower level with 42 and 36 respectively. Tesla (23 world novelties) is significantly lower, but there are some particularly highly rated e-drive innovations, e.g. the highest purely electric range in a luxury sedan (Model S) and an SUV (Mo-del X).

Figure 1: The most innovative car groups in 2019

Die deutschen Premium-Hersteller sind demnach wie schon im Vergleichszeitraum 2013 bis 2015 führend bei der Innovationsst?rke, Mercedes bleibt klar vorn (vgl. Abbildung 2). W?hrend es im Mittelfeld wenig Ver?nderungen gibt (Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar und Porsche halten ihre Pl?tze), macht die Toyota-Marke Lexus Boden gut. Hierzu hat z.B. der erste Digital Side-View Monitor im ES oder das lernende Navigationssystem ?Predictive Efficient Drive“ im UX geführt. Auch die Luxusmarken Bentley und Rolls-Royce profitieren vom Konzernverbund mit VW bzw. BMW und steigen im Innovations-Ranking.

Abbildung 2: Auf- und Absteiger der innovationsst?rksten Premiummarken 2016-2019 und 2013-2015 (Top 15)

It is striking that there are two new brands in the top 15: Nio (Next EV) and Wey (GreatWall) are the first purely Chinese brands (alongside Volvo under Geely management) coming closer in terms innovation strength to the established premium brands. Even though it was only founded in 2017, Nio has already launched two world innovations with the battery replacement concept (after the failed Better Place project) and the digital assistant Nomi.

Methodology: In order to answer the core questions of the CAM innovation study about the current and future innovation trends of the automotive industry and their players comprehensively, several hundred vehicle technology innovations have been analysed every quarter for 14 years. Thereby approx. 50 defined criteria such as technology field, type of innovation, originality, degree of maturity etc. are compiled and assessed according to the MOBIL approach. For example, world innovations that are available in series are rated higher than me-too innovations that are only available as prototypes. This results in an index value for each innovation, which can be summarized to total values for individual groups, brands or models. A methodological overview can be found here: https://www.auto-institut.de/download/MOBIL-Approach.pdf

About the study:

The entire study AutomotiveINNOVATIONS 2019, which comprises approx. 150 PowerPoint pages with approx. 120 graphics, figures and tables, can be ordered at www.auto-institut.de. On the basis of more than 1,300 categorized and individually evaluated vehicle technology innovations in 2018/19, it identifies the future trends of 42 automotive groups with 96 brands, among others. from Europe, Japan, the USA and China. More information: https://www.auto-institut.de/innovations_studien.htm