Gear switching trends in the automotive industry  

Elmer Sperry proposed a word with a combination of the two others – Autos and Motivus, which mean self and of motion respectively. The combination gave birth to the term Automotive. This term was originated to represent any kind of a self-powered vehicle.

The automotive industry includes a wide range of organizations and companies that are involved in the designing, manufacturing, development, selling or marketing of the automobiles. This industry is one of the most vital industries in the entire economic sector in terms of revenue.  

As the demands of the generations change according to the trends and the requirement of a product or vehicle changes according to the scenarios of the changing world, the automotive industry has also seen a drastic change in its field. From vintage cars to high-end vehicles, automobiles now seem to have developed into a transformed version of the older ones.

How businesses are responding to changing trends in the automotive industry

In an industry like this one, technology progresses at an unexpected rate, and the trends are fluid just like the designs of vehicles on the roads.  Cars don’t just drive themselves anymore – they connect to the internet, they map your route, maintain climate control within the cabin, and a whole lot more.

Vehicles have become more convenient for the new age automobile user. Today, the design, quality, etc. are not the only factors a consumer is looking for in a vehicle. Rather, they’re looking forward to having safer, comfortable and more enjoyable rides. The industry has involved important safety as well as navigation features in the vehicles.

Some of the greatest changes in the trend set of the automotive industry are

• The rise of self-driven features, such as auto-braking, auto parallel parking and avoiding lane-change is the result of a synergy between the tech industry and the automotive industry.
• Tech companies, along with the automotive industries are working together to develop a complete self-driven vehicle that helps in eliminating human errors, decreasing accidents and easing the common traffic issues.
• Due to the increase in the rate of reverse driving accidents, back-up cameras became very important as a requirement. Almost half of the new cars nowadays are designed to have a back-up camera.
• The automotive industry has also involved the use of Wi-Fi hotspots in the vehicles. This requires a synergy of telecom and automotive tech – along with an improvement in cellular receptions even at the high speeds car drive at. Cars will always be online – whether it is to serve high speed internet to their passengers, or to navigate the roads using maps.

• One of the most recent trends is the electric vehicle. The electric vehicles are gradually becoming popular all around the world. This seems to be changing the entire generation of automobiles.

What does this mean for the people working in the sector?

Companies are increasingly needing electronic and software engineers – and personnel who better understand the convergence of the automotive and tech industries. There’s a growing demand for talent that can bridge the gap between the two sectors. This naturally creates the need for a new kind of workforce, one that isn’t limited to the mechanical aspects of automobiles. You no longer need to be a pure automotive engineer to be succeeding here.

Opportunities in the automotive industry

From an engineering perspective nevertheless, to stand out to automotive companies, a qualification in technical courses is generally required. But in the context of the new trends we’re dealing with, this is far from the only option to make it to the sector.

Now, designers are being poached in hordes by automotive majors looking to reinvent themselves. So why not consider the sector if it’s a Bachelor’s (or Master’s) in Design that you’re pursuing?

Next up is, of course, machine learning and artificial intelligence. While demand for these domains is peaking in other industries, the automotive sector is not to be left behind. Cars need self-driving capabilities, they need their engines working in an optimised and efficient manner, they need collision protection. All of this necessitates software engineers working on machine learning and AI algorithms to execute these tasks. It’s a tough task, no doubt – since the work done here will be responsible for saving hundreds of thousands of lives every year – all of which meet an untimely end because of errors by human drivers right now.

The automotive industry will continue to evolve

The Automotive industry is and will always be one of the major industries in the economic sector in terms of revenue as its demand is always on the rise.

Manufacturers are constantly adapting to changing consumer understanding – from simple vehicles to  new age ones by making them faster, safer, powerful and lighter. While trends change as soon as the generation of customers changes, the industry stays on to be one of the most important industries in the economic sector.