While 2015 was another excellent year for automotive suppliers with global EBIT margins at a record high of 7.4 percent, volatility increased and global revenue growth slowed, according to the "Global Automotive Supplier Study 2016" from Roland Berger and Lazard. A potential market cool-down in 2016 and future technology changes remain at the top of the supplier CEO agenda.
The trucking industry is facing several challenges that can potentially be addressed by automated trucks: hours-of-service, safety, driver shortage, and operating costs. While the industry made gradual improvements on some of the individual issues disconnected in the past, automated trucks have the potential to simultaneously impact a wide range of issues.
Mexico's automotive industry has been growing at an impressive 8% in the last 5 years. From 2016 to 2020, this growth is predicted to continue at 9% annually, to almost 5 million units of vehicles in 2020. The growth is driven mainly by export to global markets outside the NAFTA region and the increasing share of premium vehicles – 40% of all new programs will come from this segment.
After a brief period of optimism in 2013 and 2014, growth in the world steel market has come to a halt: In 2014 demand for steel in China fell 3.3% with further decline confirmed for 2015 and expected until 2020. In other regions the demand is stagnant or only growing slowly. Resulting from this the world steel industry is once again facing a serious overproduction crisis, which has led to a spectacular fall in prices and to stiffer competition.
These are the main findings of the new Roland Berger study "Weathering the Steel Crisis", which examines the steel market, as well as responses by steel producers and distributors to this crisis.
The current low price of oil makes renewable energies look less profitable when compared with fossil fuels. There is a risk that the EU's and Germany's energy and climate policy goals could be thrown off track, especially if this short-term trend leads to the wrong conclusions: For one thing, the current situation does nothing to change the fundamental scarcity of fossil fuels and for another, renewable energies and in particular onshore wind power are already charting a course to success, which it would be unadvisable to interrupt. Governments are called upon to invest primarily in the expansion of the power grid. But operators, too, need to act.
In 2012, a significant decline in the aerostructure tooling equipment market was forecasted, primarily due to a lack of major new programs in the pipeline after the industrialization of the A350 and the B787. Nevertheless, in the last two years the market developed much more positive – driven by new programs and rate increases of legacy programs. Therefore, the key question was: Has the expected downturn only been deferred or are we experiencing a sustainable long-term market stabilization?
The annual North American automotive supplier study by Roland Berger examines disruption within the automotive industry and supplier business models in particular brought by the advent of Silicon Valley players.
As widely known, R&D activities largely define product costs already very early in the product development process. Besides strategic and tactical questions on the R&D footprint or make-or-buy in Engineering, companies have to decide on the organizational setup and processes, the role of project/program management or engineering methods and tools for a lean and efficient engineering function.
The experts of Roland Berger and the University of Reutlingen have taken a closer look at the R&D in various industries for their latest study. In particular the continuous globalization trend confronts engineers with new and quickly changing customer requirements at ever reduced costs.
Customer service, maintenance and spare parts – in a word, aftersales – represent the most profitable business segment for truck manufacturers (OEMs). But suppliers, wholesalers, workshops and players from outside the industry are increasingly trying to break in to the market with new business models, putting traditional OEMs' profit margins under pressure. The automotive experts from Roland Berger analyzed this difficult market situation for their study: "European truck aftersales 2030 – Securing the most profitable business". They also formulated a two-step approach for new business models that truck OEMs can adopt to help ensure their success in this fiercely competitive market.
The value chain forms the backbone of every manufacturing firm and is key to their business success. It encompasses all activities – from Plan and Source to Make and Deliver. Roland Berger experts have taken a closer look at the value chains in various industry sectors for their latest study. Companies find themselves particularly challenged by rising customer demands in respect of reliability, flexibility and costs combined with a constantly changing operating environment.
The study answers a number of key questions to help businesses survive in this competitive arena and draw the right conclusions for their own value chain:
