Recently, Covid-19 pandemic safety protocols account to a number of emerging disruptive trends in the automobile industry.

The automotive industry is going through a massive transformation drive by breakthrough digital technologies and business models disruption. Increasing customer demand for high-tech connected, autonomous and electric vehicles along with smart mobility services is driving this transformation. Ultimately, a big part of the credit also goes to Covid-19 pandemic that pushed the automobile industry into rough weather in 2020. With countries going under lockdown and people following pandemic protocols, the market for automobile industry has stagnated for a while. However, when it bounced back to normal, people have a different mindset and expectation in buying cars. The industry is also adopting new technologies in its operations at an unprecedented scale. The automobile industry got an opportunity to shape this fundamental restructuring. Henceforth, Industry Wired brings you a list of disruptive trends that are shaping the automobile industry.

Top 10 disruptive trends shaping the automobile industry

Upgrading to an innovative mindset

Current ecological, social and technological trends are encouraging innovative manufacturers to offers consumers something much more than a typical metal box powered with engines. Carmakers are also showing interest in making cars that serve not just the purpose of being good at the road but also an enclosed space with high-end technology. For many years, carmakers were largely focused on enhancing manufacturing to become more efficient at scale; the future is about redefining the role of the vehicle.

Increase in cutting-edge production

Innovation is not just invading the facilities on cars inside the comfy zone. Modern technologies are also reshaping the way the automobile industry manufactures cars. One such breakthrough technology is using 3D printing to make parts of the vehicle. Additive manufacturing or 3D printing is an excellent source of product innovation. Metal 3D printing is already becoming mainstream.

Looking for environmental-friendly vehicles

The quest to search for environmentally-friendly vehicles is increasing among people. Green earth is a new concept that is attracting wide attention. Recent incidents of wildfire and glacier melting have triggered people to focus on climate change. Henceforth, people look for electric vehicles (EVs) to minimise the carbon emission.

The rising demand for luxury trucks

Most people associate trucks with off-roading and rugged work. But those are in the past. Over the years, trucks have become more than that with consumers preferring to buy luxury them as a status symbol. In addition to power, luxury trucks have features like extra towing capabilities, spacious seating, panoramic sunroof, rear-seat touch screen entertainment, advanced safety features, and motorised tailgate and running boards that maximise comfort and style.

Spike in millennial purchasing habits

While many think that millennials are not buying cars, the data tells a different story. In the first quarter of 2018 alone, millennials accounted for all new car sales growth in the Northern American auto industry with 6.45% growth in the same period. This has drastically increased since then, and more millennials are engaging in buying cars when they are triggered by life-changing events such as switching jobs, getting married or having children.

Doing online research before buying cars

Since mobile phones became a part of everyday life, people got the habit of looking online for everything they want. The routine didn’t spare vehicle purchase option. A report unravels that eight in ten car buyers use online sources as part of their vehicle purchase process. Of all online resources, automotive marketplaces are the most popular source used by 77% of both new and used buyers.

Rising adoption of personal mobility

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, employees working in the same office and are from nearby areas used to do carpooling. Most of the office goers in metropolitan cities preferred to take the public mode of transport to skip the traffic. However, the pandemic guidelines have put an end to this. Currently, 56% for people chose to use their personal vehicle over a public or shared mode of transport. This is expected to increase vehicle demand.

Expecting the concept of connected car

As technology evolves, people expect an innovative solution to connect cars with the outside world summarised by the concept of connected cars. The term represents two concepts. One applies to the connectivity between cars, which is the networking of cars with transport infrastructure. On the other hand, the term also covers the networking of vehicle occupants with the outside world. In future, they will be able to communicate, work, surf the internet or access multi-media services during the journey.

Updating the industry with 5G

Carmakers will be big customers for next-generation telecoms networks, helping to justify investments in 5G. The development of 5G promises to link everything from vehicles to household devices. However, it will require prodigious investment and the telecoms industry is trying to agree on if and how 5G can facilitate through innovations to be profitable. Market research suggests that 5G will account for 1.2 billion connections by 2025, covering about one-third of the world’s population and 30 million 5G capable connected cars.

Adoption of the Internet of Things

In the automobile industry, IoT enables secure communication between vehicles as well as vehicles and infrastructure components. The technology is further expected to improve road safety, solve traffic congestions, and reduce pollution and energy expenditure with better fleet management.