Four Challenges Confronting the Automotive Industry
Pankaj Tuteja
Head of Operations at Dragon Sourcing | Leading Voice in Sourcing, Procurement & Supply Chain | Sharing Insights & Reports to Drive Operational Excellence
Every organization, including the automotive industry, will be dealing with robust headwinds in 2021. Partly because of the economic crisis and partly because of globalization, the automotive industry sourcing manufacturers need to find unit growth to deal with these challenges.
Given below are four main challenges that the automotive industry will face in 2021. Read on to know them.
1. Alternative fuel vehicles
The use of alternative fuel debate is considered a transformative event and it will take decades for experts to conclude. Huge volumes of news dealing with electric vehicles, hybrid technology, and alternative fuels are coming from various parts of the globe. Scientists are trying their best to make vehicles run with solar and electrical energy, which is considered the best way to improve on alternative fuel technology. AFV trucks and cars can curtail carbon emissions potentially. However, with the advancement in the current technology, a more modern fuel production standard could flourish.
Challenge - The biggest challenge the industry is going to face is the unavailability of an abundant quantity of fuel. The main reason behind this is the unwilling mind of people who do not want to contest the benefits alternative fuels will have on the emissions of greenhouse gases. Another common, yet grave reason is the extreme climatic changes that make it extremely difficult to use the fuels.
2. Building brand loyalty
Every organization has to face the same amount of challenges in an increasingly competitive space. And the automotive industry has to face a more intense challenge. With the increasing environmental concerns in European society and the increasingly aging locality of Japan, the automotive competition has become an even more concerning factor. The major concern about the automotive industry is the product’s peak demand that may attain its potential and its decline is universal, with the US markets down by nearly five percent. The European and Japanese markets offer a major curb to the expansion of automotive sales. With so much already in hand to deal with, Europe has now implemented major restrictive regulations than ever before.
Challenges - The second challenge that the automotive industry will face in 2021 is holding on to customer retention expression. This is the best procurement solution that can be provided to the automotive industry. Since customer loyalty is an extremely solitary expression, automakers need to pay most of their attention to building brand loyalty.
3. Choosing the right technology
It is vital to balance the development of powertrain technologies and regulating them. More or less every part of the globe has successfully implemented some regulatory measures on the control of exhaust emission. Among all, Europe’s exhaust emission controlling regulation is the most extraordinary- it has transformed the entire direction of the automotive industry with its unparalleled emission regulatory measures. The diesel engine builders attempted to contain the emission of highly toxic nitrous oxide by producing extraordinary strides. Auto builders have a complex landscape. Therefore, they need to develop a means to compete globally.
Challenges - The third challenge that the automotive industry will face in 2021 is developing a powertrain technology that will effectively define the automotive trade’s future. With rapid changes in societal preferences, manufacturers who provide procurement solutions must identify the technological combinations that will work best for their organization.
4. Automotive supply chain
For any automotive manufacturer, the supply chain is the most complex process in the world. The supply chain is rapidly developing and advancing from the old network, and most of the automotive manufacturers are not prepared to deal with it. Various trends are affecting the supply chain, from build to delivery. Also, the cost is becoming an invariable consideration for the organizations. And the automotive industry must have costs under control. If not controlled, the profit will immediately evaporate for such automotive industries. Also, global expansion is continuously pressurizing the supply chain.
Challenges - The fourth challenge the automotive industry will face in 2021 is regarding cost control as the supply chain is decades old. An immediate objective for this industry is to accelerate the entire supply chain process and bring it to the 21st century. This needs to be done immediately and any delay in an hour could result in the shut down of the production line.
These are the challenges the automotive industry sourcing manufacturers will face in 2021. The industry owners must recognize their pain points and start working on them at the earliest.