当少即是多：汽车研发中的换挡

To remain competitive, it’s time for traditional OEMs toprune product portfolios and boost R&D efficiency. At a Glance The most innovative OEMS spend less than one-third of what traditional OEMs spend to develop Winning OEMs offer fewer and simpler vehicle models and body styles to serve the same Traditional auto OEMs often need 48 to 54 months to develop new models whereas insurgents We are at a make-or-break moment for established global automakers. New OEMs are entering themarket, generating more volume and profit yet spending significantly less in R&D per model they develop.Bain research shows some insurgent Chinese OEMs, for example, had an average cost per full vehicle OEM R&D annual project cost per full vehicle equivalent,development cost, indexed to 100 When L ess Is More: Shifting Gears in Automotive R&D Now is the time for traditional OEMs to review their product portfolios and focus on their R&Ddepartments. Innovation in R&D determines how competitive future products will be and constitutes a Traditional automakers that pull ahead of competitors will focus on a few key critical mandates. Forexample, they will reduce the number of models and derivatives in their product portfolio. They will alsoraise R&D efficiency to the next level. They can do so by accelerating development times, often using Reducing R&D intensity with a more focused portfolio Most CEOs and their leadership teams know they need to decrease their R&D intensity, or the percentageof R&D as a percentage of revenues. Recent Bain research shows that German OEMs, for example, are Many of the OEMs that plan to achieve this reduction are banking on two assumptions. First, as theindustry shifts toward battery electric vehicles (BEVs), traditional OEMs believe they can focus onbuilding BEVs and significantly reduce the development of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and Winning OEMs are approaching the challenge of reducing Second, traditional OEMs plan to increase the price and volume of cars sold, thus boosting their revenues,which would in turn reduce the amount of R&D spending as a percentage of revenue. However, thesegoals will be very hard to meet in the near future, given economic headwinds, stagnating core markets, Winning OEMs are approaching the challenge of reducing R&D intensity entirely differently. They arerigorously examining their product portfolios to see how to serve the same number of customers with When L ess Is More: Shifting Gears in Automotive R&D Recent Bain research shows the number of models European OEMs launched has ballooned over the pasttwo decades. The model portfolio size for two European OEMs, for example, has increased byapproximately 250% since 2000 while a major Asian OEM offers nearly the same number of models Boosting R&D efficiency by reducing product development time Product development time and cost have a strong correlation. OEMs that develop cars in a shorter amount The length of time that leading OEMs take to develop a new car has shrunk dramatically in recent years.Although some traditional auto OEMs still work with development times of 48 to 54 months, insurgentOEMs are reducing those time frames by nearly two years, setting development targets of 24 months to Insurgent OEMs get an additional edge by constantly launching improvements during a model series andthus keeping their cars up-to-date for much longer. They are doing so through continuous over-the-airsoftware updates as well as continuously improving hardware during the model run. Meanwhile, AI-powered tools also create vast new opportunities toreduce the development time. Product life-cyclemanagement systems and automation have already helped To decrease the gap in development time, leading OEMs need to use different tactics. For example, theyneed to shorten product development timelines by running key processes in parallel and using Agiletechniques. They need to involve key suppliers earlier and streamline the transition from development to When L ess Is More: Shifting Gears in Automotive R&D AI-powered tools also create vast new opportunities to reduce the development time. Product life-cyclemanagement systems and automation have already helped to boost efficiency in the last several years, butAI can raise efficiency to a whole new level. AI can help by automating single steps such as generating In some areas, however, AI can replace entire tasks, such as building physical prototypes by using digitaltwins and simulating a larger variety of test cases, thereby significantly reducing the need for physicaltesting. While we are currently seeing only the tip of the iceberg in terms of AI, leading OEMs work in Ultimately, OEMs that manage to shorten development times will be more successful. Shorter productdevelopment cycles not only help increase R&D efficiency but also allow OEMs to bring up-to-date Leading OEMs realign their in-house R&D efforts on critical Many traditional OEMs have expertise in cl