KPMG have published their 19th annual survey of key automotive trends round the world. The 900 executives and the 2100 consumers interviewed agree on three trends:
- Transition to electric vehicles is front and centre
- Digitisation opens up new opportunities for value creation
- Autonomous and connected vehicles will shake up automobile use cases
1. Transition to EVs
Electric vehicles head the list of decisionmakers’ issues for the next five years. Builders will have to manage a complex transition with the coexistence of competing technologies and multiple infrastructure issues.
Global trends show that the hydrogen fuel cell is gaining ground among manufacturers who see it as a relevant technical answer for certain uses. This new technology trail, still minimally present commercially, requires the implementation of a dedicated infrastructure to supply vehicles with hydrogen. It is regularly rising among the list of industry issues put forward by the managers interviewed by KPMG, moving from 6th place in 2014 to 1st place today.