Abstract
In the transition from traditional manufacturing to green and digital manufacturing to achieve a resilient economics-as-a-service plan, the rapid adoption and implementation of technology-based strategies have changed the market in the automotive sector. Automation, self-driving cars, and electric vehicles have taken over the competitive ground in the automotive industry. This competitive environment has made the relationship between industrial policy and business strategy more important than ever before in the automotive industry. Companies now require a proactive and purposeful supporting strategy to continue to add value in research, new product introduction, manufacturing, and the entire production supply chain. The regulatory approach and mindset need to be adapted to enable rapid and advanced technology development that aligns with meeting today’s customer preferences and needs. In this respect, this paper first studies the automotive transformation by highlighting the main drivers from the economic and supply chain, regulatory and industrial policy, technology and innovation, market and consumer, and social and workforce perspectives. The variety of solutions taken to address the roots of these drivers enables car manufacturers to outperform each other. The differences in manufacturing approaches and product development strategies are compared, considering the production life cycle of automakers in China, Europe, and the United States. In addition, their future vision and challenges are discussed. The results of this research reveal that adapting to changing needs in the auto industry requires a comprehensive root-cause analysis and benchmark study to determine action plans from the policy level across each phase of the automotive production lifecycle.